Reading the Mother Daughter Book club Part 2
by Rebel Belle
Summary: Read the authors note but if you don't want to that's fine here it is, the original fanfic Reading the Mother Daughter Book Club was such a good idea I COULDNT LET IT END! So this is the girls and their families reacting to the girls thoughts in Much Ado about Anne. READ ORIGINAL FIRST! Disclaimer I do not own original fanfic or MDBC, a special thanks if you choose to read this
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note**

**I am sorry I know you're not allowed to copy other stories but I could not let Reading the Mother Daughter Book Club end when I had grown to love it so much, and I know how much others loved it too. Also technically I am not stealing it because I am starting in Much Ado About Anne because if I continue exactly where the original author left off I could get kicked off the sight for good. I may not be as good as the original but hey, a girl can try and as my username says, I'm a rebel! :P**

Mrs., Hawthorne closed the book and looked up at us, face full of hope, praying that the girls would change their minds about getting rid of book club for good. The girls looked at each other amazed at their thoughts of each other, they knew that making the decision would be hard and it didn't help that their families were staring at them, waiting for answer. The girls shrugged and glanced at Emma, who usually made decisions concerning book club like her mother.

Emma cleared her throat and began "I think on behalf of all the girls that we are truly astonished at what has been shared in this book and I for one think we should consider bringing book club back but I think the others need some more convincing," the other girls nodded/shrugged "So I think, since the author had apparently found our thoughts for all five years we shared in this club we should continue on with the series, all who agree say 'I'." the was a chorus of I's even though there was some hesitation from the girls.

A gleeful Mrs. Hawthorne says "So it's settled then, I've taken a sneak peek at the second novel," Emma interrupts groaning "Mo-om!" The group laughs before Phoebe continues saying "Don't worry I only looked to see who started the first chapter, which is Megan by the way," now it was Megan's turn to groan and the rest of the girls sigh of relief then Megan stinks her tongue at them which causes the group to burst into giggles, then Mrs. Hawthorne to shushes them then continues with her sentence "If I can continue my sentence without being interrupted," she begins mock glaring at the girls who motion her to continue "I think since Megan's chapter is first we should move this to the Wong's, agreed?"

"That's a splendid idea Phoebe, but can we start this tomorrow because I am really tired and I'm sure we all are, so let's get some rest so we can be fresh for tomorrow," said Mrs. Wong, the rest of the group nods. "Also this will give me time to bake some snacks for the meeting!" The group groans while Mrs. Wong is beaming then the rest of the group perks up when she says this "Actually I was planning on baking Cinnamon Rolls for the group but if but if you guys don't want some I guess I can bake some rhubarb cookies…" Cassidy speaks up "No, no please Aunt Lily that's ok, I think we will be happy with cinnamon rolls for tomorrow, speaking of cinnamon rolls I'm…" "STARVING!" the group yell in unison. "Wow, you guys know me so well." Cassidy beams, the room fills with laughter as everyone exchanges goodbyes. Little do they know what drama the girls encounter when they read Anne of Green Gables, everyone will just have to wait and see tomorrow.


	2. AN

**Author's Note**

**Hey guys it's me! I know you haven't heard from me in two weeks and you might think I've quit but that is far from true. I know you guys want me to both a. write long chapters and b. post frequently and quite frankly with the time I have plus school plus homework, I don't know if I can post as often as I'd want. Just to let you know I'm working on a chapter which is so far 3,000 words and is a little bit past halfway done. I know you guys want to read it now but when it comes to writing what the book says and having the characters respond is a lot to write and takes a while. As soon as this comes up I will most likely be almost done with the chapter. Sorry for making you wait. Your friend,**

**~Rebel Belle**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note**

**Awe, thanks guys, I've only launched this for 2 hours and I've gotten positive feedback plus constructive criticism! I love it, sorry the characters sounded so formal, I had just finished writing an essay for school and I guess it kind of stuck, lol but thanks a bunch and I hope you enjoy! **

They all gather in the Wong's white living room waiting for everyone to sit down before they begin. Once they do they wait for Mrs. Hawthorne to begin speaking, all of them are curious to what the girls had thought during this book because Becca Chadwick had joined the book club that year, and they all knew that meant trouble.

From the Wong's kitchen you can smell the Cinnamon rolls Mrs. Wong had promised the day before. "Aunt Lilly when will they be done?" Cassidy begged "I'm starving!" Clementine rolls her eyes "It's as though I don't feed you." Cassidy sticks her tongue out at her mother then replies "Well I have to get my energy from somewhere." Lilly chuckles then assures Cassidy that they will be done in around fifteen minutes "Enough time to finish a chapter," prompted Phoebe who was eager to continue the story.

The seating was different at the Wong's, mostly because they had more room but the girls still wanted to sit on the rug while the adults and other family members sat on the couches.

"Since its Megan's chapter first, let's has Lilly read." said Phoebe. Mrs. Wong, sensing Mrs. Hawthorne's eagerness accepted the book without hesitation and began reading Megan's chapter.

**Autumn**

"**It's fun to be almost grown up in some ways, but it's not the kind of fun I expected, Marilla. There's to learn and do and think…"**

**-L.M. Montgomery, Anne of Green Gables**

"That exactly how I felt on my thirteenth birthday." Sighed Jess, remembering what had happened that day. Darcy, who sat right next to her, sensing her discomfort patted her softly on the back. Jess looked up and shot him a grateful smile, happy she had such a great guy.

**Megan**

"**Well, this is a pretty kettle of fish."**

**-Anne of Green Gables**

"I can only imagine what that means this chapter is about." Chuckled Darcy. "With these girls it could mean anything." Replied Stewart, who barely finished the sentence before his girlfriend jabbed him in the ribs, the room fluttered with laughter before Mrs. Wong continued.

"**What are you girls up to out there?" I swear all mothers have radar that doesn't quit.**

"Lilly, I think she's on to us." Says Shannon, the rest of the room chuckled and to press the point of laughter the moms gave each other worried glances, which worked because the room soon filled with laughter, which startled young Chloe, who began to cry. Once Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid calms her down, she motions Mrs. Wong to continue.

"**Nothing, Mom!" Jess calls back. Motioning frantically to Emma and me. Giggling, the two of us scoop up the evidence—garlic powder, cinnamon, peppermint extract, and blue food coloring—and hastily stuff it back into the spice cupboard.**

"So I was right! There was something going on, I knew that radar would come in handy…I mean nothing." Jokes Mrs. Delaney "Haha nice save mom," says Jess rolling her eyes but you can tell she's joking because she has a smile pasted on her face. "Hey, a mother's intuition is always right." Phoebe adds smiling.

"**Doesn't sound like nothing to me."**

As though on cue Mrs. Delaney does a victory dance, as this happens Jess hides herself in Darcy's shoulder pretending to be embarrassed. "Come on Jess, you know you love the dance, even if you don't your stuck with me _forever_."

"Oh no, how will I ever survive." Gasps Jess in mock horror. "Well you've done a good job for the past fourteen years." Says Emma and the group laughs.

**We hear Mrs. Delaney's chair scrape on the dining room floor as she pushes back from the table and comes to the kitchen to investigate. Emma and I quickly wipe the grins off our faces. Jess leans back casually against the counter, blocking our concoction from view. **

"I think us mom's should take notes because now we know what they do when they try to hide stuff from us." Jokes Mrs. Chadwick, the group thinks this is hilarious because not many would dare to hind something from Mrs. Chadwick, yet no one dares laugh either.

"**Hmmm," says Mrs. Delaney, scanning the kitchen suspiciously. She spots the open cupboard and lifts an eyebrow.**

"Busted!" whisper yells Darcy. Megan, Emma, and Jess give each other a knowing glance. "I bet they get away with it," Stewart wages. "Same stakes Chadwick, loser pays winner two bucks?" Stewart replies without hesitation "It's on Hawthorne!"

"**Uh, we were thinking of baking cookies," Jess explains, which isn'ttechnically a lie**

All the mom's except Mrs. Wong raise their eyebrows as if to say "explain that." Mrs. Wong steps in and says "Don't worry it explains, well sort of."

**Even though we decided not to because the kitchen is sweltering.**

The mom's nod even though it's not much of an explanation.

**Normally, any of our mothers would have seen through this in a flash, but Mrs. Delaney seems kind of distracted today.**

"Ha! Hawthorne I was right, cough it up!" says Stewart promptly as Darcy reluctantly gives up two bucks. "I'll get you back sooner or later, Chadwick!" Darcy grumbles. "Keep dreaming Hawthorne." Stewart smirks, tucking away the two dollars Darcy just gave to him. "If you two cut it out, we can continue, you can more bets then," scolded Mr. Hawthorne with a smile that contradicted his statement. "It's not over." Grumbled Darcy but all Stewart did was smile and motioned Mrs. Wong to continue.

**She shakes her head and sighs. "Please don't bake anything, girls it's hot enough here already without the oven on. We've got peppermint ice cream—**

"Speaking of ice cream it looks about time the cinnamon rolls are ready!" Mrs. Wong said gleefully. The group looks eagerly once Mrs. Wong comes out of the kitchen with a plate full of cinnamon rolls. Cassidy, naturally, is the first to dive in she swallows, hard. "Eww what's in this stuff?" she asks dissecting the food. Curiously, one by one the others try the nasty concoction that Lilly created.

"Well you see I made vegan cinnamon rolls, also I replaced the frosting with cream cheese! Isn't it good?" Most of group nodded trying to keep down what Mrs. Wong made; others who were lucky didn't eat any, claiming they were full or already ate.

"How about we go to Kimble Farm after this chapter?" whispered Mr. Wong loudly enough to were the whole group could hear it except Mrs. Wong, who was happily humming in the kitchen. Once Mrs. Wong came back, she continued the story.

**You can have some if you want a snack." She opens the freezer and sticks her head inside. "A day like this sure makes you wish it was winter, doesn't it?"**

"**Or that we had air conditioning," says Jess mournfully.**

Mrs. Delaney gives Jess of soft smile and Jess gives one in return. They both know that hard times that will soon come, sensing that Jess goes over to her mom and dad and hugs them both soon returning back to her spot on the carpet next to Darcy.

**Mrs. Delaney pulls her head out again and gives her a sympathetic smile. "Maybe someday, honey. Right now we have other priorities." She looks over at Emma. The smile disappears.**

"Could've she written the smile fades, the smile disappearing all together makes me feel like there's something wrong with me." Emma said making a face "There was something wrong with you," Megan retorted "You were wearing a turtleneck in AUGUST! That's like almost a cry for heatstroke!" The group filled with laughter as Emma grumbles, Stewart ruffles her hair and whispered "Hey, I don't think you ridiculous, I think perfectly sane," Emma slaps his arm lightly "What, too soon?" Stewart asked ruefully with a smile on his face, Emma rolled her eyes, grinning, and then motioning for Mrs. Wong to continue.

"**Emma Hawthorne, you must be roasting in that turtleneck! Didn't you offer her a t-shirt, Jess?"**

The room tensed because everyone knows why Emma was still wearing that turtleneck, she was a little on the chubby side and it didn't help that Jess was petite so Emma couldn't fit in her clothes. Emma didn't care though because she was over it plus she wasn't chubby anymore, thanks to figure skating she lost some weight, not enough for her to fit in Jess's clothes, which Emma didn't care about, it was enough for her to stop feeling self-conscious, which was a good feeling for Emma.

"Yup Mrs. Delaney, I was roasting like a turkey, wearing the turtleneck was a bad idea wasn't it," said Emma smiling, signaling that it's ok to laugh; they got the message because the tension quickly relieved from the room. Taking the bait Mrs. Delaney replied "If we kept you in that turtleneck any longer, we might have had to serve you for Thanksgiving, imagine what your parents would say." She gestured to the Hawthorne's. "As long as mom doesn't have to cook I'm fine!" Darcy said bravely, his mom just rolled her eyes and said nothing.

"Phoebe, if your cooking horrible enough that you'd eat your own child for thanksgiving I think, no I must teach you how to cook!" exasperated Clementine. "I feel so loved." says Emma dryly,Stewart moves close to her ear and whispers "That's because you are." Then he quickly sits upright again leaving a blushing Emma forced to tell Mrs. Wong to continue.

(**Authors note, I know early huh, don't worry it isn't over this is just a sidebar, I'm going to try to incorporate all the couple feels, I put in some Jarcy, or did I? I already forgot, lol, but at the moment I focused on Stemma, sorry not sorry, they're my favorite ship, couldn't help it. I will try to do other feels but I ship Cassidy/Tristan, Becca/Theo, and Megan/Simon, so unless I fly them in or have them on Skype or something, it won't be easy. I'm going to continue the story now.**

**Jess looks uncomfortable. "Uh,"**

"**I forgot to bring something to change into afterschool, and nothing of Jess's fits me, Mrs. Delaney," Emma replies matter-of-factly**

"You're welcome Jess, I saved the scheme." Emma says proudly. "I think it was more of shenanigan," Jess responds smiling "Really I think of it more as a plot," Mrs. Hawthorne adds trying not to laugh "Really, it makes it sound as though we are trying to kill someone…that's not until next chapter." Cassidy retorts breaking the famous Hawthorne synonym game. "Haha, like they believe we tried to kill someone, even you are famous prankster isn't capable of that," Jess responded laughing, the others too even though it took a dark turn. Mrs. Wong just continued, ignoring the people trying getting their say in.

**Patting her stomach. Emma is a little on the plump side, and Jess is really petite.**

There was silence; Megan was about to apologize to Emma about her remark until Emma stopped her. "Hey you don't have to apologize, I know what I was but its ok, I'm over it, trust me from what I've been called when I was younger plump is a compliment, seriously though its fine." During that sentence Becca had gulped, she knew what Emma meant when she said she heard worse that's because she was the one who said it. "Emma I'm really sorry, I know you said you're over it but I still think what I said was wrong and I'm really sorry, could you ever forgive me?" Becca said hopeful that Emma would forgive her. "Becca, I already had." Emma replied and went over to hug her friend, and then she went back to her seat on the white rug and motioned Mrs. Wong to continue.

"**Well for Pete's sake, you should have said something," Mrs. Delaney tells her. "We have plenty of things around here that will work for you. Hang on a sec." She trots upstairs. As soon as her mother is out of sight, Jess grabs the jar of blue liquid from the counter behind her and sticks it in her t-shirt pocket.**

"Aha! I knew you were doing something behind my back!" Mrs. Delaney says triumphantly "Then you should've turned around." Jess says in response, Mrs. Delaney just sticks her tongue out at her daughter and Mrs. Wong takes this as a signal to continue.

**I glance over at Emma. Emma is one of my best friends, but she's not exactly the fashion queen of Concord, Massachusetts.**

"I know, that title is taken by you Megan," Emma says in a sincere voice "Thanks Em." Replies Megan smiling.

**I mean, I like to dress up for the first day of school too, but a turtleneck on a day like this? You'd think she'd know by now that the beginning of September is pretty much still summer everywhere, except maybe Alaska.**

"I'm aware of that Megs, I just choose to rebel against the norm." Emma said "Yeah sure Emma, are you sure it wasn't because you wanted to impress someone, maybe—" Cassidy began but didn't get to finish due to the fact that Emma through a pillow at her face. "Shut up!" said Emma, Cassidy just rolled her eyes.

**At least she picked a good color**

"Thank you, finally something that's not criticizing my poor choice of clothing." Mumbled Emma

**Purple goes well with her brown eyes and curly brown hair. And it matches her new lavender glasses, too. Mrs. Delaney reappears and tosses Emma a white t-shirt with a **_**heartbeats **_**logo on it. "Try this," she says.**

Heartbeats is a sore topic and the whole room knows why, Jess's mom left for a whole year to do that show when she was trying to become an actor, Mrs. Delaney left a hole in her family which really stayed for a while. Things are better but it still stings, hearing those words the entire Delaney family winces, well except the twins who have returned from New Hampshire to go to a Boy Scout meeting.

Dart sensing the sadness in Jess, gives her hand a squeeze giving her a reassuring smile. Jess felt instantly better and grateful too, not just for Darcy but for her family to be whole again.

_**HeartBeats **_**is the soap opera that Mrs. Delaney was on last year. You'd never guess by looking at her now that she's an actress.**

"Why gee thanks Megan I feel so loved," said Mrs. Delaney sarcastically, Megan just laughed.

**When visited her in New York this past summer, she was all glamorous.**

"Now I forgive you." Said Mrs. Delaney with a smile on her face, Megan rolled her eyes but she was grinning.

**Now—well, now she looks the way she always did. Today, for instance, she's wearing jeans and a faded Red Sox T-shirt. She's still pretty and everything—really pretty, just like Jess**

"Awe thanks!" gushed Jess and Mrs. Delaney at the same time, causing the room to burst with laughter. Darcy leaned next to Jess and whispered in her ear "She's right, you are beautiful." She began blushing madly and leaned her head on Darcy's shoulder, he smiled.

**With the same sparkling eyes, though Mrs. Delaney's hair is dark, not blond like Jess's—but she looks ordinary, too. Like a mom. I wonder if she misses all the makeup and clothes and stuff from her acting job. I sure would.**

The room looked her to her as though to say "answer that", Mrs. Delaney sighed and responded "I do miss being an actress-," she didn't get to finish because Jess interrupted "So you did miss it, I knew you did but I only though it was a little but I was wrong, I'm going to use the bathroom excuse me." As soon as she said that she was gone.

Panic creased through Mrs. Delaney's forehead as she ran after her daughter, god knows where she could be, this house is huge. After a few minutes of searching she found that sure enough Jess was in the bathroom. "Jess sweetheart open up," Mrs. Delaney pleaded, tears streaking her face. There was no response but the door opened a crack, not waiting for Jess to speak Mrs. Delaney opened the door as quickly as she shut it.

Jess was cradled on the floor, her eyes red. Mrs. Delaney, seeing her daughter like this began to cry even more but she had to stop herself so she could talk to Jess.

"Sweetheart, it's true I miss acting-," Jess winced "But I love being at the farm with you father, the twins, the animals, and you." Jess sniffles and wipes her face on the guest towel and looks up at her mom "I'm sorry I didn't let you finish, it's just, I don't want you to leave again." Mrs. Delaney is taken aback; she didn't want to know how her daughter carried this fear. "Honey, I know you scared but I promise you I would never separate this family again and that's a promise I intend to keep, ok?" Mrs. Delaney finishes offering a hand to her daughter who is still on the ground; Jess takes that hand and responds "Ok." "Good, now let's get cleaned up before we go back ok?" Jess nods and they get cleaned up, when they are about to return Jess gives her mom a bug hug then walks over to her spot next to Darcy.

Darcy tenses when he sees the tell tale sign that Jess was crying, he took her hand again and held it protectively as though to protect Jess from the pain she felt, it worked.

The room was silent for a bit, waiting for the appropriate time to start again. Mrs. Delaney had motioned Mrs. Wong to continue, and she did.

**But Mrs. Delaney seems really happy to be back home at Half Moon Farm.**

"And I Am." says Mrs. Delaney contently

"**How's your mm doing, Megan?" she asks me. "We missed her yesterday at yoga class."**

"**She just got elected to the board of the Concord Riverkeepers," I tell her. "Yesterday was their first meeting." My mother's kind of a nature freak.**

Megan instantly regrets those words as soon as her mother says them, as soon as she was about to apologize, her mom said "I prefer the title 'Savior of the planet' 'nature freak' sounds so bland." The room erupts with laughter, as soon as it dies down Mrs. Wong continues.

**If something on the planet needs saving or protecting, you can bet Lily Wong is there on the front lines to make sure it gets done.**

"That will be my slogan!" Mrs. Wong chuckles.

"**Oh that's right, she told us about that," Mrs. Delaney replies. "I guess I forgot," She spots a pile of mail on the counter where Jess left it. "Bills, bills, nothing but bills," she grumbles, flipping through the envelopes. Shaking her head she disappears back into the dining room.**

**Jess gets three bowls from the cupboard and dishes up some ice cream for us. Crossing the kitchen, she beckons Emma and me to follow. One of her chickens—Johnny Cash or Elvis or something, I can't keep their names straight—darts in the minute she opens the screen door. Jess nabs it and it lets out a big squawk.**

"**You know the rules, Loretta," Jess tells it firmly**

"So close Megs," Jess says laughing, as does the rest of the group. "I know I'm not the only one who doesn't know their names." Megan said defensively. Most of the group admits to not knowing the names but they continue to laugh anyway.

"**No chickens in the house!"**

**Sometimes I still can't believe I'm friends with somebody who talks to chickens. Or somebody who even **_**has**_** chickens.**

"Thanks Megs, you make me feel so special." Says Jess sarcastically "Your welcome Jess, I'm glad you feel that way." Megan replies. Jess sticks her tongue out at her and then Mrs. Wong continued.

**Emma and I follow Jess to the barn. Mr. Delaney let us fix up an old storage room in the hayloft for a secret hangout. Not that it's much of a secret, what with Jess's little brothers always sneaking around.**

**Right now, there's no sign of them. We scared them off after we caught them spying on us in Jess's room when we were changing out of our school clothes.**

The room filled with an uncomfortable silence so Mrs. Wong just continues on with th**e **chapter.

**They'll turn up eventually, though—they always turn up—and when they do we'll be ready, thanks to the concoction that's safely in Jess's pocket.**

"**I wish it could stay summer forever," sighs Emma**

"I couldn't agree with you more Emma." Responds Mrs. Chadwick looking contently out the window at the summer sun.

**Climbing up the hayloft ladder behind me.**

"**Me too," echoes Jess.**

_**Not me**_**,**__**I think, but I don't say anything. **

"Same Megan, if it was summer everyday there would be no hockey season." Said Cassidy, no one in the room seemed to be surprised.

"Shocker Sloane," Darcy retorts, Cassidy just responds by sticking her tongue out at him.

**I've always liked the first day of school.**

"How?" asked Cassidy with a disgusted look on her face. "Who are you and what have you've done to the real Megan Wong?" Megan just rolls her eyes.

**Mostly because I get to wear one of the new outfits that I spend all summer picking out.**

"Ok, I was starting to question the person the person narrating the story, I think we all were." Cassidy said, the group nodding along with her statement. Megan just began to roll her eyes once again, smiling.

**I can't help it—I like clothes.**

"I for one am shocked," retorted Jess smiling.

**I want to be a fashion designer when I grow up.**

"And looked what you've become, that and better." Beamed Gigi, Megan smiled in admiration.

"**Hey, did you guys see Zach Norton at the assembly this morning?"**

"Oh great, more Zach," Grumbled Stewart, the room laughed. "I don't know how many more Zach attacks I can handle." Emma rolled her eyes and said "You'll have to bear with it." Stewart pouted causing the room to laugh once again, Stewart turning a different shade of red motioned Mrs. Wong to continue.

**I ask them. "He's so tall! He must have grown about a foot over the summer." I take a bite of ice cream and give Emma a sidelong glance. "He's cuter than ever too."**

"Oh great, I think I'm about barf," Stewart muttered. "You and me both," Darcy grumbled "Is that all you girls talk about." Megan just rolled her eyes "Ok, the next time our thoughts get published we'll make sure to have a broader range of conversation." That had got them to shut up and sooner after Mrs. Wong continued.

**Emma shrugs, but her cheeks turn as pink as her ice cream.**

Stewart said some words that no one could really hear but you can tell they weren't pretty.

**Lately she's been telling us that she doesn't have a crush on Zach anymore. Jess and Cassidy and I are pretty sure she still does, though.**

"Was I really that obvious?" Emma asked, the four girls nodded vigorously. Emma rolled her eyes a turned away from her friends hiding her blush, once it faded Mrs. Wong continued.

**Not that I'd mind if she didn't—the way I see it, the fewer girls lined up hoping Zach Norton will notice them, the better my chances are.**

"Why gee thanks Megs." Emma says, Megan just makes a face and shrugs.

**That fact that we both like Zach is one of the only things Emma and I have in common, when you come right down to it. Well, that and the mother-daughter book club our moms cooked up last year. We looked different, for starters.**

"Seriously Megs, of course we look different." Emma laughs.

**I'm Asian American—Emma's not. She's a bookworm—I'm not. I love fashion and clothes—she couldn't care less. And although she's not off the charts smart like Jess, she's a good student. Me, I just scrape by, which drives my parents nuts.**

"That's right but you have gotten better." Mrs. Wong said Megan smiles at this praise suddenly glad she had brought up her grades.

**Somehow, despite our differences we're still good friends.**

"They say it's our differences that bring us closer together." Mrs. Chadwick says wisely, as though she were a psychologist. The room nods trying to suppress giggles at the thought of Mrs. Chadwick as a psychologist.

**Emma sticks out her lower lip and puffs at her bangs, which are sticking to her forehead. It's even hotter out here in the barn than it was in the Delaney's kitchen. Jess turns on the table fan and aims it straight at the old sofa where the three of us are sitting.**

"**Can you believe we're in seventh grade now?" she says. "Just think—two more years and we'll be in high school."**

**We eat our ice cream for a while as we think this over.**

"**We're going to be **_**teenagers **_**this year," Emma adds. "We're practically grown-ups!"**

"Ok Emma I wouldn't go that far but that's how I remember feeling when I was younger." Mrs. Hawthorne says as the other mothers nod along to what she just said. Emma blushes a deep shade of red and mumbles "It was a big deal at the time."

"I'm sure it was." Stewart says as he pats Emma's head, Emma sticks her tongue out and pretends to be mad but no one believed her as her blush became more pronounced.

**Something I feel like I've been looking forward to being a teenager forever. And I especially can't wait until I'm old enough to date.**

"Date who I wonder." Says an unfamiliar voice as the front door of the Wong's house/mansion shut closed. Cassidy and Megan both jump up out of their seats hopping their eyes don't deceive them because standing right in front of them is the Berkley Family. To astonished to move Cassidy and Megan stare blankly at each other then back at the Berkley's. Mrs. Berkley quickly explains

"Well Phoebe told me that you lot had found a book that tells your thoughts? Well, I haven't quite got a hold of the concept but since Phoebe told me that the goal is to bring you lot together and it's been working, well I was interested so I brought the family on a flight here to see what all the fuss is about!" the group took a while to take in the thought but once they did, they all greeted each other and filled them in.

"Plus, Simon and Tristan were very anxious to see you lot, especially, well you know, their girlfriends." The whole room burst into laughter, except Simon and Tristan who both groaned "Mu-um!" the laughter grew and a blush deepened on both Cassidy and Megan.

"Sloane, are you blushing?" Darcy teased but it wasn't long before a pillow was thrown across the Wong's white living room.

"CASSIDY ANNE!" yelled Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid. Cassidy just shrugged.

"Ugh, I give up." Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid finished, tossing her hands up in mock-surrender.

**Authors Note**

**No it's not over don't worry** **this is just a response to my previous author's where I joked that I would fly the Berkley's in, well I did. I thought the story was missing something and it seemed to fit at the time, I don't know how I will fit Theo but I'll try, keep your fingers crossed because miracles do happen as you just saw. Ok back to the story, if you're still reading that is. Later.**

…

"Let's begin where we left of, this chapter in Megan's POV, this is the first day when they were in seventh grade and they are right now at Jess's house." Mrs. Wong says filling in the Berkley's, they nodded and asked Mrs. Wong to begin where she left off.

"**So do either of you have any classes with Zach this year?" I ask trying to sound casual.**

"By the way, Megan used to like Zach until 9th grade." Cassidy says filling them in.

"Oh, is that so?" Simon replies, not sounding the least bit pleased.

"Yeah join the club." Says Stewart, gesturing his hands as though to invite Simon to the "I hate Zach Norton club" Emma and Megan rolled their eyes.

"Seriously though it was a long time ago and if I'm not wrong did he a) kiss you in eighth-grade? And did you not also date him in the beginning of tenth?" Megan retorted feeling satisfied with herself, this sentence caused both Cassidy and Tristan to scowl.

"Hey, you had it coming." Jess said acknowledgingly, which made Cassidy laugh.

"Ok, fine you win Megan; you had logic on your side." Jess rolled her eyes as Cassidy said this.

Mrs. Wong just continued with the story before the angry Berkley boys could give their opinion, most likely against Zach.

"**Zach! Zach! Ooooo, Zach Norton!" squealed a pair of voices behind us**.

**We whirl around to see Dylan and Ryan, Jess's twin brothers, emerge from under a pile of old horse blankets in the corner.**

"**I TOLD YOU TO QUIT SPYING ON US!" hollers Jess.**

"Lily was it really necessary to scream that?" asked Mr. Wong rubbing his earlobe.

"Hey, that's how it's read; it's supposed to show that she is really mad, I mean why else would it be in all caps?" Lily responded.

"It was pretty scary, I've never seen Jess get so mad and I've known her for practically, what? Six years now?" Emma added as Jess nodded "Yup, six years."

**She launches off the sofa toward them, but they're too fast for her. Shrieking in alarm, they duck past her out the door. The three of us are close on their heels. The boys fling themselves of the loft and tumble into the pile of hay below.**

The boys, thankfully at boy scouts did not have to hear their mother silently scold them in anger and in fright.

**Jess dives after them.**

"Jess! That is completely unsafe! What on earth possessed you to do that?" Scolds Mrs. Delaney.

"Hey! In my defense they deserved it and don't worry no one got hurt."

"It doesn't matter! What if someone did? What then?" Fired back Mrs. Delaney furiously.

Jess shrugged meekly not really knowing how to respond.

"That's what I thought!"

Darcy in effort to comfort Jess squeezed her hand, it helped.

**So does Emma.**

"Are you serious? I don't feel the need to repeat what Shannon said but keep that in mind." Mrs. Hawthorne said angrily at Emma. Emma looked down at the carpet. Stewart, like Darcy, wanted to calm his girlfriend too, so he stroked her hand, she felt better.

**I hesitate. My friends all love doing this, but it always seems like a long way down to me**

"Good judgments call Megan," praises the moms.

"Oh really? How do think she got down?" asks Cassidy smirking at Megan.

"Megan Rose Wong how do you explain yourself?"

"Peer-pressure?" Megan shrugs

Her mom shakes her head but continues on.

**I close my eyes and force myself to jump.**

"See technically I didn't jump with want, forced myself to. Does that count for anything?" Megan asks

Megan's mom just shakes her head.

"**Ouch!" I cry when I land, wishing I were wearing jeans and not shorts. The hay is stiff and prickly, and it jabs into my bare legs. I scramble off of it as quickly as I can and run after Emma and Jess.**

**We corner her brothers by the chicken coop.**

"**Pest Control 101," Jess whispers to Emma and me, taking the small jar from her t-shirt pocket.**

"Is that the same the Carson Dawson drank on Hello Boston?" Asks Becca.

The girls nod uneasily and Becca nods in response.

"You made your brothers that?" Asks Mrs. Delaney

Jess nods once again. Mrs. Delaney cracks a smile.

"I guess they deserved it but it's still not nice."

Jess smiles to her mother and Mrs. Wong continues.

"**Watch** **and learn." She holds it up. The blue liquid inside shimmers in the September sunlight. "Gee," she says, "too bad you guys are such little weasels—I was going to share some of this with you."**

"**What is it?" one of them asks cautiously. Like the chickens, I can't tell Dylan and Ryan apart.**

"So I'm not alone," Becca says, most of the room nods in agreement except for Cassidy and The Delaney's.

**Jess glances around, like maybe somebody is listening, and her voice drops to a whisper. "It's an **_**invisibility potion**_**."**

**Her brothers' eyes widen.**

"**Really?" says one of them.**

**Jess nods. "If you drink it, you'll disappear just like that." She snaps her fingers and looks over at Emma and me. "Isn't that right?"**

**Emma nods. "Yup. You'll vanish right into thin air."**

"**Vaporize," I tell them.**

"**Dematerialize," adds Jess for good measure.**

**The three of us are smothering grins. Emma's family invented this thing called the synonym game. I used to think it was dumb—actually, I still do—but it's kind of addictive.**

The whole room nods as Mrs. Hawthorne takes a bow, being the one who invented it.

"**Please, can't we try it?" one of the twins begs.**

"**C'mon, Jess!" says the other.**

**Jess shakes her head. "No way. You broke your promise. You said you wouldn't spy on us anymore."**

**The boys exchange a glance. With their blond curls and brown puppy-dog eyes, they look like angels, but there's hardly anything angelic about them. "Double trouble," Jess calls them. "Pests with a capital **_**P,**_**" and she's right.**

"I couldn't agree with you more book Megan and Jess," Says Emma as the room nods in agreement, even their own mother.

**I still think they're kind of cute, though. I wish I had a brother or sister, but my parents decided on just one child. Me. My mother tried to explain it to me once—something about zero population growth. Another one of her schemes to save the world, as usual.**

Mrs. Wong sighs. "Look if it means that much to you, and then I guess we can consider adopting…"

"Really?!" Megan exclaims.

"Nope! April Fools!" Mrs. Wong laughs.

"That's cruel, it's not even April!" Megan whines, Mrs. Wong goes over to her daughter and pats her head and when she's done and goes back to her seat Megan sticks her tongue out at her.

"**We're sorry, Jess. Right, Dylan?"**

"**Yeah, really sorry,' Says Dylan "We promise never to do it again."**

"**Cross your hearts and hope to die?" Jess demands.**

**They both nod.**

"**Well, I guess in that case…" Slowly, tantalizingly, she unscrews the lid and passes the jar to Dylan.**

**He sniffs it cautiously. "P-U!" he cries, and hands it to his brother.**

"**You first."**

**Ryan takes a sip and makes a face.**

"**You have to drink more than that or it won't work," Jess tells him.**

"Jessica Delaney, you're horrible," her mother jokes.

"Hey, you can't get everything being nice," she responds with a despicable smile.

**Grimacing, her brother gulps down half the liquid, the passes the jar to his brother, coughing.**

"**Yuck! That is gross!" Dylan sputters after he finishes off the rest.**

**I have to bite my lip to keep from laughing. Beside me, Emma is doing the same. The twins crowd around us. "Is it working?" they demand.**

**We pretend to examine them.**

"**You're fading at the edges," Emma says.**

"**It probably takes a minute or two," I explain.**

**Suddenly, Jess jumps back, her eyes wide in mock disbelief. "Wow, guys, look! It worked! They're gone!"**

**Emma shades her eyes with her hand and scans the backyard. "Where are they? Where did Dylan and Ryan go? Do you see them anywhere, Megan?"**

**I shake my head, still trying not to burst out laughing. Was I this gullible when I was seven?**

"Actually Megan you were," Mr. Wong began. "Back when we lived in the condo we didn't have much money and it was around Christmas time. You were desperate to see Santa but all the Santa costumes had been rented for other families so I had to improvise, I rented the only costume that was available, a bunny."

"A bunny?" Megan said, trying to choke back laughter. He nodded while everyone laughed, when they stopped which toke a while he continued. "I managed to convince that I was a representative of Santa and I was going to give you his presents for you." Everyone laughed, Cassidy almost peed her pants. Once everyone settled down Mrs. Wong continued.

**Dancing around us, Dylan and Ryan chant, "Nyah, nyah! We're invisible!"**

**They stop and stare at each other.**

"**Hey, how come I can see Ryan?" says Dylan.**

"**Yeah, and how come I can see Dylan?" says Ryan.**

"**It's because you're **_**both**_** invisible," Jess explains, making it sound perfectly logical. "Invisible people can always see each other. It's the people who **_**aren't **_**invisible who can't see you."**

**Just then there's a crunch of gravel behind us. We turn around to see Cassidy Sloane flying up the driveway on her bike. She skids to a stop right in front of us.**

"**Hi guys," she says.**

**Dylan and Ryan poke their heads out from behind Jess. Dylan sticks out his tongue.**

"**Hey dude," Says Cassidy. "What's up?"**

"Dang-it Cassidy you ruined it!" Tristan jokes.

"Well sorry how was I supposed to know!" Cassidy retorts.

They both smile at each other.

**His eyes narrow. "How come Cassidy can see me? She's not invisible."**

"**Uh, it's because she has special powers," Jess replies. "Right, Cassidy?"**

"**I guess so," mutters Cassidy, not really paying attention. She must have ridden over straight from baseball, because she's still wearing her practice jersey. It's the same one she had on at school today. No back-to-school outfits for Cassidy Sloane.**

"No matter how much I beg." sighs Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid, bouncing Chloe up and down on her leg.

"Never!" Cassidy responds.

**She cares even less about fashion than Emma does. Cassidy is a jock and proud of the fact that she's the only girl at Walden Middle School good enough to make the boys' fall baseball team. I notice that her face is streaked with dirt and sweat.**

"**You tricked us!" shrieks Ryan. "I'm going to tell mom!"**

**The boys head for the house, howling for Mrs. Delaney. A minute later Jess's mother sticks her head out the dining room window. "Jessica Delaney! You are too old to be teasing your brothers!"**

"**But they've been spying on us again!" Jess protests.**

"**I don't care what they've been doing! You quit it this instant, do you hear?"**

"**Yes, Mom," Jess calls back meekly.**

**Beside me, Emma is staring at Cassidy. "Are you okay?"**

**Cassidy wipes her nose on the sleeve of her jersey.**

Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid was about to tease her daughter's manners until she realized where the chapter was going, then turned to Cassidy.

**I look at her face more closely. What I thought were streaks of sweat in the dirt are actually tears.**

The whole room now stares at Cassidy; she just looks down at the floor.

**I stare at her, dumbfounded. Cassidy Sloane is **_**crying**_**.**

"**Emergency session of the Mother-Daughter Book Club," Emma announces crisply. "Well, the daughter half." She tugs Cassidy toward the barn.**

"**Hurry, before my brothers' spot us," Jess urges.**

**We pick up out pace to a trot.**

**Once safely inside and out of sight, Jess leads the way back to the hayloft, then pulls the ladder up behind us so the boys can't follow this time.**

"**What's going on?" Emma asks, as Cassidy flings herself face-first into the pile of blankets. **

"**Nothing." Cassidy's voice is muffled.**

"**Doesn't sound like nothing," says Emma.**

**She and Jess sit down beside her. Jess reaches out and pats Cassidy on the back, the way I've seen her do with Sugar and Spice, the Delaney's' Shetland sheepdogs. "C'mon, Cassidy," she coaxes. "You can tell us."**

**I sit down too. The blankets smell good. In fact, the whole barn smells good—like hay and horses and leather and old wood and other stuff all mixed together. **_**Eua de Barn.**_** I make a mental note to jot it down in my sketchbook later. It might make an interesting men's cologne.**

"Really Megan, while your friend is upset you're thinking of creating a men's cologne." Darcy laughs.

Megan shrugs because she can't quite think of a good come back.

"**It's my mom," Cassidy says finally in a low voice.**

Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid finally realizes why Cassidy was so upset, she gulps, and she never realized how upset she truly was.

**Emma and Jess and I exchange a worried glance. Cassidy's dad died a couple of years ago. What if something's wrong with her mother?**

"**Is she okay?" asks Emma gently. "She's not sick or anything is she?"**

**Cassidy sits up. "No it's not that," she says. She draws her legs in close to her chest and rests her chin on her knees. "She's not sick," she repeats, plucking at the blankets. "It's just that she...she…" Her sentence trails off.**

"**She what?" I prod.**

**Cassidy looks up, and tears start to spill from her eyes again. She swipes at then angrily. "My mother's started dating again."**

The people who didn't know now have looks of surprise on their faces. Stanley Kinkaid looks shocked, it all made sense, why she was so mean, why she was cruel, it was because she wasn't ready. He gulped because it was in some way his fault she cried.

"Stanley, it's not your fault, I just wasn't expecting it, I'm sorry." Cassidy apologized, but before he could respond she went over to her family and gave them a hug and stayed over where they sat.

"It's ok." Stanley responded, holding them all close.

"Lily, you can continue." Said Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid.

"Actually it's over, and Cassidy's chapter is next, who wants to read next?"

Courtney breaks up from the group hug and takes the book "Alright Cass, let's see what's next."

**Author's note**

**Ok so I'm finally done, it's 12 am where I am but I finally finished the chapter, sorry it took so long, between school and band practice, I'm trying. I hope you enjoy, this is my first fan-fic. Constructive criticism is appreciated because I want to make this story enjoyable for you guys and the only way to do that is if you help too. It's a group effort. Suggestions on feels also accepted. Hope enjoyed it!**

**Stay rebelling,**

**Rebel Belle **


	4. AN(again) response to comments

**Author's Note**

**Hey guys, how are you. I think about every time I'm halfway done with a chapter I'm going to do an author's note/respond to comments section. I try to respond to all my comments but I'm new to the "Writing Fan fiction" world, so it's kind of hard. Ok here are the comments from chapter 2.**

**From luvJessandDarcy**

"**I love it! Can you make them read about Jess and Darcy's date in 'Wish you were Eyre'? Thanks!"**

**Hi luvJessandDarcy! Thank you for your positive support but I'm sorry I don't think I can do that. This is not because I don't want to but it's because I'm writing about the whole group and their families reading only "Much Ado about Anne" but if you want there is another Fanfiction called "Back to the Past" by Estelle4Ever in which they read snippets from all the books. I've read what she wrote so far and I would recommend her story to about anyone, so go ahead I recommend all of you to read it. Keep reading, I mean rebelling, well that to**

**Rebel Belle**

**From Guest**

"**Loved this chapter! It flowed really well and you represented the characters nicely. Can't wait for more!"**

**Hello Guest! Thank you so much for enthusiasm and comments on my writing style it means a lot. Side note, I love that you guys give me criticism and things I need to work on because it makes me improve as not only a writer, it helps improve the fanfiction so you can enjoy what your reading and that's all that matters. Until I get a hang of it we will be rebelling the norms, let's all rebel together.**

**Rebel Belle **

**From Dess4ever **

"**That was good!:) Will be fun having the Berkeley's there as well**** Only thing I noticed was that you said Emma and Jess had known each other for 6 years. They've known each other since they were babies, so idk if you meant 16 years…Can't wait for next chap!"**

'**Sup Dess4ever, thank you for thinking so fondly about my story. Jess and Emma had known each other for a while that's true but didn't it say in the first book that Emma and Megan stopped being friends in fourth grade and that's when Emma and Jess become like closer, maybe I'm wrong I think I might be let me check…nope I was wrong its says that Megan was almost as good as a friend as Jess, so I probably meant 16 years XD. Ok, thanks for making me think about it, and if I write something wrong or you think I need a correction, write it in the review because it helps, you might think it's mean but as long as you're not cussing me out calling me a phony, I don't care how you word it. Keep rebelling guys like Dess4ever did.**

**Rebel Belle**

**From Denijah (Guest)**

"**Lurvvv it! I think the Berkley's were a bit sudden, and I'm not sure bringing Theo in so fast would be the best idea. If you had done it at the beginning like 'Back to the Past', it may have been OK, but still, it's GREAT! The cool thing is that this and 'Back to the Past' are totally different, but following the same concept, and in a way that they don't sound copy-ish at all! You are so talented!"**

**How you doin' Denijah? I know the Berkley's were a little sudden…ok maybe really sudden but I thought it could work at the time. Also the thing I had worried about most were people comparing me and Estelle's fanfiction because you'd think they be hating on our idea's (excuse my gangsta thug moment) but I was surprised on your comment because honestly what you said was so sweet and true. We follow the same concept but being a person who reads her fanfiction as well knows they are really different. Thanks for your sweet words and also thank you for rebelling what I thought someone would do if they mentioned me and Estelle's fanficton's.**

**Rebel Belle**

**From sunflowerstar481**

"**That was really good! The only constructive criticism is maybe just a few spell checks. Like instead of 'mom' you put 'mm'. So yeah. Oh and maybe have something different in between the paragraphs, not just them sticking their tongue out to each other. Over all though, FABULOUS darling! ;)"**

**Hello sunflowerstar481 (by the way love your username) thanks for giving me the criticism, I know I shouldn't be giving myself excuses but when I uploaded it, it was 12 am where I live and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting , so I didn't really take into account spelling, oh well :P. When I was writing the next chapter I took into account what you said about adding more in between the chapters so I will do so. Stay rebellious my friend**

**Rebel Belle**

**From obsessedchick44**

"**Can't wait for next update!"**

**Hi obsessedchick44 (also love your username) how are you? I know your comment is short and you must be thinking, why are you adding this? So I will tell you. I wanted to mention this comment because I wanted to create like a schedule for myself, I know you guys want long fanfic but for it to come up like in a day but that is impossible even for this rebellious person so let's set up a schedule. I have school so I can't really control how much writing I get done on the weekdays because of homework and stuff but on the weekends I will try and write around at least a thousand words per day (Friday, Saturday and Sunday) I know your thinking I'm pushing myself but honestly with the font I'm using and having most of the word pre-written for me, courtesy of Heather Vogel Fredrick, it's a lot easier then you think. On weekdays I'll try to write as much as I can but no promises on that.**

**Ok, those are all the comments I had on Chapter 2 so that's all I can say. If you read through all of those comments your FABOLOUS DARLING! As Wolfgang would say and if you didn't, you little rebel you, you might have missed your comment so you might want to re-think that decision :P**

**I wish you all the best, until next time little rebels**

**Rebel Belle **


	5. Author's Note Again

**Author's Note**

**My gods have I really been this inactive? Don't answers that, I'll feel worse than I already do, it's rhetorical. I began writing and I felt that my work was becoming sloppy as I continued to write faster and I don't want to give you work that I didn't put a 100% effort in. Plus with school I've been really busy but now that all the breaks are coming up I'm going to be writing a lot more. The reason I wrote this was to let you guys know that I'm still alive and before you kill me because you're like "ANOTHER FREAKING AUTHOR'S NOTE!" don't worry but by midnight of today the next chapter will be posted so don't be discouraged. It is currently 3:00pm as I'm writing this so I'm hopping if everything works well it will be up around that time, maybe one or two at the latest.**

**Please forgive me my fellow rebels,**

**Rebel Belle**


	6. Chapter 4

**Authors Note**

**Hey guys how's it been? I know what you're probably thinking 'Why don't you just write already, seriously those authors note annoys me.' Well sorry if that's you but the reason I do those it for you guys to know that I'm still active and I also do it because it's a better way to interact with you guys so yeah. Let's begin this long over-do chapter.**

**-Rebel Belle**

"Ok, who's the new victim?" Courtney asked. Mrs. Hawthorne laughed "I believe it is your darling sister Cassidy." Courtney gave Cassidy an evil grin and looked to Mrs. Hawthorne.

"Do you mind if I do the honors?"

"Not at all." Replied Mrs. Hawthorne.

Cassidy glared at the pair, her hands lingered towards the stack of white pillows and wondered if she were to throw them would they would be aimed at Courtney's head. Before she could consider it a warm hand was pressed against her palm. She looked up and saw Tristan and smiled.

"Don't do what I think you're about to do." Cassidy had just laughed and asked "How did you know what I was about to do?" Tristan shrugged and replied "I know you." Cassidy blushed furiously.

The whole group stared, Cassidy Sloane blushed and didn't even bother hiding it, it was mad.

"What are you all looking at?" Cassidy asked her tone as furious as the blush on her face.

"Well, you're blushing." Jess pointed out, the group nodded.

"So? Is it that abnormal, people do it all the time?"

"Yeah but you blushed the way Darcy does when we mention his love for the little mermaid." Emma joke, the group burst into laughter, well all except Darcy.

"Hey that's not fair, I was like five!" Darcy exclaimed, this just caused the group to laugh even harder.

"Hey, if you're going to live in denial like that then I wouldn't want to be part of your world." Emma shot back, Cassidy howled with laughter, as did the others. Darcy couldn't help but smile, hey Emma was clever when she wanted to be, he had thought, I've got to get her back though.

"Anyway let's get to the book shall we?" Mrs. Hawthorne interrupted. They all simmered down and everyone was starring attentively at Courtney.

"Whenever you're ready Courtney." Mrs. Hawthorne said Courtney nodded.

**Cassidy**

"**We can't have things perfect in this imperfect world, as Mrs. Lynde says."-Anne of Green Gables**

"I already have a feeling I know what this chapter is about, so I'm going to apologize now," Cassidy began. "Stanley I'm really sorry about how I acted, I shut you out before even giving you a chance, and will you forgive me?"

Clementine felt tears come to her eyes, her daughter had never responded to anything more maturely then she did now. She was growing up.

"It's ok, all has been forgiven, and you weren't entirely in fault, it was a big change."

Cassidy walked over and hugged her family. Things may have been chaotic at times but it all turned out well in the end, for the better she realized.

**I slam my locker door shut, startling Kevin Mullins, who lets out a terrified squeak.**

"Who's Kevin Mullins?" Tristan asks, his face is neutral but his eyes have a spark of jealously.

Jess clears her throat and responds "Picture Rupert Loomis but less formal and without the accent." Tristan's eye clear and asks casually "Really?"

Cassidy rolls her eyes and answers "Yes, there's nothing to be jealous about, do we honestly need a repeat of ninth grade?"

Tristan just shrugs, pondering what could have happened in ninth-grade but he knew it something to do with Stewart and Emma because Emma rolled her eyes and Stewart just blushed while apologetically squeezing her hand.

Courtney takes this time to continue on with the chapter.

"**Sorry," I say gruffly. I hadn't even noticed him standing there. He's hardly taller than Jess's little brothers. Kevin's kind of a twerp,**

Tristan grins at Cassidy while she rolls her eyes.

"Your ego is saved now can we move on?" Cassidy asks sarcastically.

Tristan gives a stiff Rupert Loomis bow and replies "Why certainty."

The kids laugh while moms try to contain themselves; they were the ones who tried to Rupert, tried, because it was so difficult at times, because…he was Rupert. The dads on the other hands didn't even try to contain themselves, they burst out laughing, some even harder than the children.

As the laughter faded the reading continued.

**But he's okay, even though he's only, like, nine or something.**

"Then how did he get into secondary school?" Mrs. Berkeley asked her eyebrows rose.

"Don't worry I think it explains." Mrs. Hawthorne responded. The group, asides from the Berkeley's, nodded it almost always did.

**Emma says he skipped a lot of grades.**

"Well, since it was the beginning of the school year and he was nine that would mean he was supposed to be in third grade and if we subtract simply seven by three we get four. He skipped four grades." Jess calculated.

The Berkeley's looked stunned but no one else seemed surprised.

Cassidy started slow clapping and said "Brought to you by Jessica Delaney, the human calculator." The whole room applauded while Jess took a deep bow and clasped her hands together a waved them back and forth.

"I'd like to thank the academy." Jess began as though she were winning an Oscar.

"Oh sit down." Her mother said trying not to burst of laughter but failed. Darcy consoled Jess by patting her hand; she rolled her eyes but couldn't hide the blush creeping up on her face.

**He and Jess are total brainiacs.**

"Which my darling daughter ever so subtlety proved."

**Emma's pretty smart too**

"Awe thanks Cass," Emma said. Little did she know what Cassidy thought next? ***apparently I must have that question mark even though to me it makes no since, if anyone wants to clear that up that'd be nice **

**-well, except for math**

"Sadly that's true but hey I get B's, still good in my book." Emma says looking around, Jess shakes her head.

"You guys suck!" Emma pouts, the group laughs at this.

**-but Kevin and Jess are light-years beyond all the other kids at Walden Middle School, including the eighth graders.**

"Thanks Cass but as much as I appreciate the compliment, light years is a unit of measurement not of time." Jess began while Cassidy glared "Don't worry it's a common misconception." She finished.

"When I give you a compliment, take it." Cassidy grumbled. The group was confused; none of them actually knew that fact, well Jess's and Cassidy's. They sat thoughtfully for a second before Courtney continued.

"**There you are!" Jess flies up behind us and grabs Kevin by one of his toothpick arms. "Hurry up; we're going to miss the bus! Hey, Cassidy!" she calls back over her shoulder as she drags Kevin down the hall behind her, her long blond braid bouncing against her backpack.**

**I jerk my chin in greeting and head down the hall toward math class. Kevin and Jess take the bus to Alcott High every morning for math—geometry for geniuses or something like that.**

"I wish it was called that, that's a way cooler name then Geometry Advanced." Sighed Jess, the room fluttered with laughter.

**Me? I stink at math. I don't care, though.**

"I wish you did." Clementine mumbled to only where she could hear it.

**Hockey players don't have to be math whizzes. And I plan on playing pro hockey when I grow up.**

"We're all shocked!" Megan mock-gasps, Cassidy just sticks her tongue at her.

**I see Third heading toward me and I jerk my chin up again.**

"Who's Third?" Tristan asks, his bitter tone contradicting his calm expression.

"Come on dude, seriously? He's just a friend and last time I saw him he was following Annabel like a lost puppy." Cassidy said. The guys in the group burst out laughing at the image of Third, well, all except Tristan who was mildly blushing.

"Which I believe all happened at my wedding," praises Gigi proudly. Then she whispers to Tristan "Your welcome, my event lead to this so I in some way helped in eliminating your competition. Not like you needed any help, she likes you anyway."

These words help Tristan put his usual cocky grin on his face again and then he turned to Cassidy. She looks over, with a questioning look on her face.

"What?"

Tristan just shakes his head with that same grin plastered on his face. Courtney now takes this time to continue reading.

**Third isn't his real name, of course. His real name is Cranfield Bartlett III, but who'd want to be known as that?**

"I don't know, The King of England?" Darcy pondered.

"Hawthorne you'd think you'd know this by now. You're talking to a book, it can't respond." Cassidy jokes, everyone laughs while Darcy does his best not to blush which makes them laugh even harder.

**As he walks past, he hipchecks me. Or tries to. Third is on the short side, and I'm pretty tall. Even taller these days. I grew a bunch oven the summer. **

"Just like mom," Courtney begins. Cassidy glares as though to dare her to make a comment about being a super model, Courtney takes a hint and backtracks her comment continuing "Well, for the most part." Cassidy nods in approval.

"**Eight more weeks, Sloane!" he crows.**

"Eight more weeks until what?" Asks Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid curiously.

"Judging by the time this was in I'm going to guess hockey season." Cassidy replies and as she does so she glares the group down, daring them to make fun of her love for hockey, it worked because the group simply nodded.

**I slap him a high five. "Counting the days, dude!" Like Third, I live for hockey season. I like baseball, too, but hockey is my life.**

"No surprise there." Becca says with a teasing grin on her face. Cassidy to all of their surprise Cassidy just rolled her eyes.

"The roles are switched!" Jess exclaimed with awe in her voice, the group erupted with laughter. As the laughter died Courtney continued reading.

Courtney skimmed through the next line without reading aloud and her eyes widened. She paled her skin and pretended she was about to faint.

"Courtney are you okay?" Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid asked with mock-concern due to the fact that her daughter can't act.

Courtney's arm was shaking as she held the book and gave it to her mother. "Read what she thought." Courtney whispered.

Cassidy rolled her eyes "Okay Courtney the shows over, what did I think that was that bad?" Cassidy's mom gasped and said "Cassidy I never knew you could think that way."

"What does it say?" Mrs. Hawthorne asked curiously, peering over at Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid.

Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid coughed and read aloud what Cassidy's thought had been.

**But right now I could care less about hockey, or baseball**

"OH MY GOD!" The whole group gasped.

"I know where this headed, Stanley I'm sorry for all I did and said to you or about you, I was selfish and I judged you harshly, I'm sorry." Cassidy said.

Stanley nodded and motioned Cassidy for a hug.

"Okay, okay is anyone going to mention the fact that Cassidy said the unthinkable?" Tristan teased, Cassidy just playfully punched him on the shoulder and shrugged.

"Let's continue if we want to get done with this chapter done by dinner, so much time was wasted when Courtney was doing her little skit." Announced Mrs. Chadwick eager to continue reading, probably hoping that her daughter redeemed her-self in this book.

"But before we do I'd like to thank the academy for helping me with my Oscar winning performance." Joked Courtney as she bowed. The group applauded while Courtney sat down and opened the book once again.

**Right now all I can think about is my mother's new boyfriend, Stanley Kinkaid. Stan the man. The man who doesn't belong in our life.**

Stanley winces at those harsh wordsbut says nothing; the room remains quiet as Courtney continues.

**My mother met him at Coffee Connection a few weeks ago when she stopped for a latte after yoga class. They got to talking and he asked her out and she said okay. At least that's the way she explained it to my older sister Courtney and me. I couldn't believe my eyes when he showed up at the door to pick her up.**

"What was I too handsome to handle." Joked Stanley, who over all maintained a very positive attitude throughout the entire reading. The group chuckled uncomfortably, not really sure how to respond.

**He's shorter than my mom for one thing. Of course most people are—my mother is six feet tall and used to be a model—but besides being short, he's also bald except for about a two-inch fringe of dark hair. I mean **_**bald **_**bald, too, not peach fuzz bald. The top of his head is as shinny as a bowling ball. Plus, he's kind of soft in the middle. I could tell just by looking at him the he'd probably never played a sport in his life. And my mother was going out with him?**

"Stanley I'm sorry that was incredibly rude of me to judge you like that. Dr. Wiseman told me the only reason I was doing that is that I was comparing you to my dad, I just can't apologize enough."

All Stanley did was gesture for a hug and the hugged, sometimes you don't need words, and love was enough.

**Courtney said he has nice eyes, but I didn't notice. She said we couldn't expect mom to stay a widow forever, and I said it hadn't even been two years yet and I couldn't believe she was being so disloyal to dad. We got into a big fight about it, and now she's not talking to me.**

A minute after reading that the whole Sloane-Kinkaid family was hugging each other and they stayed in that hug as Courtney continued reading.

**I'm still ticked off about Stan the man when I get into pre-algebra class.**

"**Hey Cassidy."**

"**Hey Emma," I reply, sliding into the seat beside her. Emma stinks at math too.**

"Thanks for pointing that out Cass." Emma muttered, Cassidy just stuck her tongue out at her saying "They already knew." Emma just kept muttering something no one could really hear. Stewart just put his hand on her and the muttering stopped, then the story continued.

**Jess tutors us both, which helps Emma, but I'm pretty much a lost cause.**

"**Guess what?" says Emma. Her brown eyes are shinning behind her glasses. She's excited about something. I sigh. That makes one of us. It's hard for me to feel excited about anything at the moment.**

"**What?"**

"**I just saw Ms. Nielson in the hallway, and she told me they're going to start a school newspaper, and she wants me to be on it!"**

Stewart smiles and squeezes Emma's hand, the school paper is where they officially first meet, well, where they got to know each other. Emma feels conflicted; the newspaper is where Stewart and her hit it off but that newspaper caused a lot of drama.

"**Cool," I reply, without enthusiasm.**

**Emma shoots me a look.**

"**What's the matter?"**

**I shrug.**

"**Are you still bugged about that Stanley guy?"**

"**What do you think?" I snap.**

"CASSIDY ANN! Where are your manners?! Just because you had a bad day doesn't mean you bring your friends down."

Emma just burst out laughing and then told Clementine that it was okay and no hard feelings. Clementine seemed satisfied and motioned Courtney to continue.

**Emma's face turns red, and I instantly regret barking at her. Emma Hawthorne is one of my closest friends in the whole world.**

"See I knew deep down she cared." Emma teased as Cassidy just shook her head but she was smiling so that made all the difference.

**Before I can apologize, though, the Fab Three flounce in. The Fab Three are Becca Chadwick, Jen Webster, and Ashley Sanborn. They used to be the Fab Four, before Megan Wong wised up and ditched them for us. They're the three most popular girls in the seventh grade, although why anyone besides them think so is beyond me.**

**They head for the desks on the far end of the classroom, carefully avoiding us. Well, avoiding me. They know better than to mess with me. Emma's another story. One of these days, though, she'll grow a backbone and tell that snooty Becca to go jump in the lake.**

"Or push her in one." Megan chuckled; the girls soon join in remembering that field trip that just so happens was in their seventh grade year.

"What are you guys laughing about?" Asked Mrs. Berkley. "Don't worry it's in the book." Responds Mr. Hawthorne who was there on that day, he was also one of the people in the room who was laughing.

**As soon as they're seated, they immediately start whispering. I can tell they're talking about Emma and me, because they keep looking over at us and laughing. I ignore them. Emma's face flames again.**

"Guys I'm really sorry about being, well you know, a snob. In that year I was probably way worse than I was the year before and I want you to know that I will always regret it and you guys mean so much to me that i…" Becca chokes up almost crying. The girls console her and hug her, at the end Becca feels a little better but still in a state of regret.

**I give her a nudge with my elbow and pass her a stick of gum as an apology for being crabby a minute ago. "Buzz buzz buzz," I remind her. Emma's the one who explained to me about queen bees. They're the girls who think they're better than everyone else, and who like to boss everybody else around. Queen bees are nothing new. They've always been around. They even had them over a hundred years ago. I know this because we read **_**Little Women**_** last year in our mother-daughter book club.**

"Oh my god I'm about to faint, Cassidy quoted a book. Cassidy you keep it up like this I'm going to get a heart attack." Clementine teased as her daughter just grumbled.

**The author, Louisa May Alcott, lived right here in Concord when she wrote it in the 1800s, and she put a queen bee in the story—Jenny Snow. Jenny was stuck-up and mean to Amy March, just like Becca Chadwick is to all of us.**

"**Did you hear they're starting a school newspaper?" Becca says to Jen and Ashley, talking extra loud so that Emma and I and everybody else can hear.**

"It was mostly for you guys to hear but everyone else hearing it was a plus." Becca admits sheepishly.

"**Mrs. Neilson wants me to be in charge of the social calendar. She says she's asking all the school's best writers to help out." Becca looks over at Emma and smirks. I notice she's careful to keep her lips together. Becca got braces over the summer, and she's still a little sensitive about them.**

"Way to be observant Cassidy." Mutters Becca.

"No problem Metal Mouth." Retorts Cassidy with a grin on her face.

**I can see all the excitement drain out of Emma, like air leaking out of a soccer ball. I don't blame her. Who'd want to work on the newspaper with Becca Chadwick?**

"**Don't worry," I whisper to her. "Nobody cares about the social calendar. That's not real writing."**

**Emma musters a smile, but I can tell she's not convinced.**

Clementine smiles at Cassidy for at least trying to make Emma feel better.

**Math class is endless. I struggle my way through a fraction-review worksheet and a make a complete mess of two word problems. Then while Ms. Santiago blathers on about the joys of the metric system, I draw a cartoon of Becca, giving her hairy legs and enormous buck teeth with braces.**

The group bursts with laughter as the all sneak a peek at Becca and imagine her with all those features. Becca stands up and models herself as the monster Cassidy drew, adding devil horns and a Miley Cyrus tongue.

As the group begins to settle Courtney continues where she left off.

**I pass the picture to Emma, which makes her giggle. Out in the hall afterward we say goodbye. Emma's in higher groups for all of our classes. Jess is in a different league altogether, but my mother would turn cartwheels if I got Emma's grades. Or even Megan's.**

"How bad of grades did you get Cass?" Jess asked curiously.

"You don't wanna know." Cassidy responds.

"That bad?"

"Worse."

"**See you at lunch," I tell her. "Don't let Becca spoil your day. The newspaper's gonna be great, you'll see."**

"And it was." Whispered Emma only loud enough so Stewart can hear it, he smiled and squeezed her hand.

**It's funny how your own problems kind of fade when you have a friend who's in trouble.**

Mr. Hawthorne quickly takes out his note pad and scribbles that thought down then continues to act attentive. Mrs. Hawthorne notices this and laughs; Mr. Hawthorne puts his finger over his lips and shushes her. She rolls her eyes as he takes her hand. Their children groan but the mom's find this adorable.

**I suddenly realize that I've been so busy cheering Emma up, I've hardly thought about Stanley Kinkaid for the past hour. I start thinking about him again now, though, and by the time I get to English I'm all bent out of shape again. The class period limps by with me slumped in the back row biting my nails and worrying about Stan the man.**

"Cassidy you have to pay attention more in class." Clementine scolds.

"Well I can't really do anything about it." Cassidy shrugged.

"What do you mean? Of course you can..."

"No what I mean is that this was in the past so I can't jump in a force myself to pay attention."

Clementine went beat red as the group laughs.

**Fortunately, we're not doing much yet since it's just the second day of school, and Mrs. Nielson only yells at me once for not paying attention.**

"Once! It's a new record!" teases Tristan, who is now trying to comfort his growling girlfriend.

**Science class is pretty much the same, except a little more fun. Ethan and Third are in the same lab group with me, and the three of us goof off when the teacher's not looking. I actually like science okay. **

"Oh my god, Cassidy likes school?!" Courtney exclaims. "Pinch me I'm dreaming."

"I hate you all." Cassidy grumbles as the group laughs.

"We know you love us." Darcy says in between laughs.

"I wouldn't count on it." Cassidy sighs "I can't wait until it's one of your chapters next, let's see how you like it then." The girls just continue to laugh.

**The experiments can be fun, and sometimes we get to do stuff outdoors.**

**Mr. Doolittle dismisses class a little early, and since I get to the cafeteria ahead of everybody else I save seats for Emma and Megan and Jess. Our table is a weird mix of Mother-Daughter Book Club members and jocks. And Kevin Mullins, who Emma says defies classification.**

**It's so stupid how middle school cafeterias work. Every group has its own table.**

"It's really stupid how it works I agree with you Cassidy, it worked same when I was in middle school, I'm sure everyone can agree right?" Mrs. Hawthorne says. The group groans in response, they hated it too.

**There are the drama kids, the band kids, the braniacs, the popular kids, the nerds, the jocks, the artists—the list is endless. Jess calls our table "the hybrid."**

"Of course she does everything with her leads back to science." Jokes Darcy. Jess scowls at him and pretends to be offended.

**I don't care what anybody wants to call it, I just like sitting with my friends.**

**Emma is the first to arrive, followed by Zach Norton and Third. Emma slides in beside me and smiles shyly at Zach, who sets his tray down across from us. Zach is playing fall ball this year with me, and even though Emma has been telling Jess and Meagan and me for weeks now that she doesn't have a crush on him anymore, that he's "so yesterday" as the Fab Three put it, I'm not completely blind. I can tell by the way she gets all quiet and tongue tied when he's around that she still likes him.**

Emma just blushes while Stewart begins to squeeze his pillow like a stress ball.

**I take a bite of burger and give Zach a sideways look. I still don't get what the big deal is. Light brown hair with blondish streaks, blue eyes, big deal. So he got a lot taller this summer, so what? I did too, and nobody's falling all over themselves to have a crush on me.**

"Not that you would know." Jess points out.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Cassidy grumbled.

"Though you are the most observant one in the group, you're completely oblivious when it comes to yourself." Jess says a matter-of-factly

"Am not."

"Jess is right, it took you three years to realize Zach liked you and that was when he kissed you and even after that you were in denial." Megan argued.

"Whatever." Cassidy muttered refusing to continue on with the subject. Taking this hint Courtney continued before things got ugly.

**Not that I'd want them to. I don't like all this boy/girl stuff.**

"How about now?" Tristan whispered his lips lingering on Cassidy's ears.

"It's different." She responds.

"How?"

"It's with you."

Tristan smiled and kissed her quickly on the forehead before anyone could see it.

**Ethan MacDonald slouches over and plops down beside Zach, emptying his lunch bag onto the table. He makes a face. "Peanut butter and jelly, as usual." He looks over at Emma's tray. "Can I have your French fries? It's not like you need them or anything."**

At this instance the room was silent. Stewart and Darcy looked like they were about to go over to Ethan's house and stab him to death. Mrs. Hawthorne looked shocked; she honestly thought it was only Becca that teased Emma about her weight.

Courtney quickly began to read hopping to fill this uncomfortable silence.

**Emma's face flames again.**

"**Shut up Ethan," I tell him, kicking him under the table. "Last time I checked, you were still shopping in the husky section."**

No one dared to mention anything about wait so Clementine held her tongue about what Cassidy said to Ethan but was planning to scold her later.

**I hate it when people make fun of Emma. It's not like she's fat, anyway, only a little chubby.**

"Thanks for defending me Cass." Emma says sincerely, filling the awkward silence.

"That's what friends are for." Cassidy replies.

They both exchange a smile before Courtney continues to read.

"**Yeah, lay off, Tater," adds Zach.**

**Third starts to laugh. So does Emma.**

**I look at them, mystified. **

"**Who's Tater?"**

**Zach grins at Ethan, who scowls and punches him in the arm. "Too bad you weren't here in first grade." He tells me. "Every time they'd server Tater Tots for lunch, we'd find Ethan under the table, hunting for the ones that kids dropped."**

"**Why?"**

"**Why do you think?" says Third. "To eat them, of course."**

"**Off the **_**floor**_**?**

"**Yup."**

"There's something I didn't need to know." Says Darcy gagging.

"Yeah that's pretty gross." Agrees the parents.

Soon the whole group begins to burst with laughter. As soon as Courtney regained herself she continued.

"**Dude, that is gross," I say to Ethan. I flick him a French fry. "Here out of pity."**

**This makes him laugh in spite of himself, and then we all laugh and start throwing French fries at one another until the lunch monitor comes over and tells us to cut it out.**

**Megan and Jess and Kevin show up with their trays, and Emma and I squish together to make room for them. **

"**Hey, Beauty," says Zach.**

**Jess flashes him a smile "Hey, Beast."**

"Really, Beauty? Out of all the musicals they could have chosen why they had to choose Beauty and the Beast. They could have chosen Les Mis, Cats, anything but that." Darcy lashes out. Jess smiles and squeezes his hand.

"Why? Would you have rather them chose the Little Mermaid?" Teases Stewart. Darcy opens his mouth then closes it, whatever he had wanted to say, it definitely wasn't appropriate in front of the mothers.

Jess just consoles her now pouting boyfriend.

"Get used to it, Zach and Jess still say it to each other to this day." Cassidy groans. Darcy sighs and Jess rolls her eyes.

**The two of them were the leads in last year's school musical. They've called each other "Beauty" and "Beast" ever since.**

"**Awwwww," says Ethan. "Isn't that adorable!"**

"I'm starting to hate this guy the more and more he talks." Grumbles Darcy. Jess and Emma ignore this and continue to listen on to the story.

**Zach wings another French fry at him, and then turns back to Jess. "How's high school math?"**

**She shrugs, glancing quickly around the table at the other boys and then down at her tray. Jess is still a bit shy. Not as bad when I first met her, though,**

"Gee thanks Cassidy." Jess says sarcastically. Cassidy just sticks two thumbs up.

**And only around people she doesn't know all that well. I thought maybe she was mute or something when we first moved here from California.**

"Thanks for boosting my self-esteem." Jess said rolling her eyes.

"Was I wrong?" Cassidy asked already knowing the answer.

Jess just muttered to herself.

"**It's ok, I guess. Hard. Right, Kevin?" **

**Kevin doesn't reply. He rarely does. Not because he's shy, but because every time he opens his mouth somebody calls him "twerp" or stuffs him in a locker. When you're Kevin Mullins, it's safer just to keep quiet.**

"**So, Emma, did Mrs. Neilson talk to you?" Zach asks.**

**Emma nods. **

"**Yeah, me too. Sounds like fun."**

**A little smile hovers o Emma's Lips.**

"Of course it does." Stewart grumbles, Emma strokes his hand in sympathy.

**Her cheeks get pink—not embarrassed pink this time but happy pink. I look over at Jess and mouth the words **_**I told you so.**_

"**What sounds like fun?" says Third.**

"**They're starting a school newspaper," Zach explains. "Ms. Neilson asked a few of us if we'd like to work on t. She wants me to cover sports."**

**First Becca, now Zach—for half a second I'm offended that Ms. Neilson didn't ask me. Then I remember that I don't like to write.**

"**She's still looking for a couple of photographers," Zach continues. "Any of you guys interested?"**

**Ethan and Third both shake their heads. So do Megan and Jess and Kevin.**

"**Yeah, maybe," I say, the words popping out before I can even think about them.**

"**Since when do you know how to use a camera?" asks Third.**

**Since my Dad taught me, I think, but aloud I just say, "Since California."**

"**Cool," says Zach. "I'll tell Ms. Neilson."**

**As he and Ethan and Third start trying to gross everybody else out by sticking French fries up their noses, I think back to the last time I took a picture. **

**Dad and I used to go shooting together around Laguna Beach, just the two of us. He taught me about light, and composition, and all that stuff. A couple of weeks before the car accident, he gave me a new digital camera for my birthday. That afternoon we went down to Crystal Cove, right before what he used to call "magic hour"—that time toward the end of the day when the light goes all golden.**

**We took pictures for a while, and then he said he wanted a shot of the both of us. He put his arm around me and pulled me close, and I held my new camera out as far as I could from our faces and snapped. The picture turned out perfectly. The wind blowing my hair across my face and the setting sun is sparkling on the ocean behind us, and we're both laughing. I still remember how happy I was.**

The whole room was taking in that sad memory, must of them trying not cry. Cassidy has her face buried in her mom's shoulder and her mom looks like she's about to cry. Even the boys are close to tears. Courtney wipes of her tears and continues on.

**Thinking about it now just makes me sad, though. I push the memory away, just like I pushed my camera away after the accident. I shoved it into my bottom drawer under all the jeans that I'd gotten too tall for. I take it out and look at the picture once in a while, but I've never printed it and I've never shown it to anyone. Not even to mom or Courtney. Some things are just meant to be private.**

**Beside me, I feel Emma stiffen. I don't even have to look up to know who's coming.**

"Uh oh here comes my queue." Becca sighs.

**When the Fab Three reach our table, Becca stops and puts her hand on her hip. She's always striking a pose, like maybe the paparazzi are lurking nearby ready to spring out and snap her picture for **_**Seventeen **_**or something. **

"A girl can dream." Sighs Becca, a happy sigh not a dreaded sigh.

**Becca doesn't look too pleased to see us sitting with Zach Norton. For some reason she thinks he's her private property.**

"**So, Megan," she says, "my mother told me you're going to be in some new teen fashion magazine."**

**Megan wants to be a fashion designer someday, and she's already really good at sewing clothes and stuff. Our book club went to New York last summer, and one of the editors at **_**Flash, **_**from back when my mom used to model for the magazine, spotted Megan's sketchbook. Now he's planning to feature her in this new spin-off magazine called **_**Flashlite**_**.**

**Megan shrugs and tries to look modest, but she can't keep the smile off her face, and it's easy to tell she's pretty thrilled. "Um, yeah, that's right."**

"**Awesome," says Becca, giving it her stamp of approval. As if Megan needed that. Jen and Ashley immediately start gushing about it too. I swear the two of them are robots or something. Becca probably keeps a remote control for them in her purse.**

The group laughs at the idea of that being true.

"**Maybe we can hang out at the mall sometime and check out the new clothes and get ideas for you," she adds.**

**Megan looks like she's not sure what to say. "Uh, yeah, maybe."**

**Emma and Jess are both looking like they wish the cafeteria floor would open up and swallow the Fab Three.**

"**Why don't you go polish your braces or something," I tell Becca.**

Clementine was about to scold her daughter but she honestly though Becca at the time disserved it and plus it was all in the past so there's really no reason to get mad.

**Kevin lets out a little snicker at this. Big mistake.**

**Becca swivels around and glares at him. "Shut up, dwarf," she snaps. "Shouldn't you be off playing with Sleepy or Sneezy or something?"**

**Ethan and Third both laugh at this, which is mean of them, and Kevin shrinks down in his chair. Jess gives him a sympathetic glance. "Why don't pick on someone your own size, Grumpy?" she fires back at Becca.**

"BURNNNN!" Yells Darcy, ruffling Jess's hair. "I never knew you had it in you." Jess smiled.

"**Ooooo, score one for Delaney," I crow.**

**Ignoring me, Becca pulls out her lip gloss and makes a great show of smearing it on her mouth.**

"Yeah I was planning on doing a one man show with that act." Becca joked, laughing at her pathetic past self.

"And I'm going to be the first one to buy the ticket." Cassidy retorts.

**She glances over the top of her mirror at Zach, who is too busy throwing French fries again at Ethan—make that Tater—to notice. Becca thinks she knows everything about boys but she is so clueless. If she really wanted them to notice her, she'd put down the lip gloss and pick up a hockey stick or a baseball glove or something.**

"And what are the chances of me doing that?**" **Becca jokes.

"About the same chances that Cassidy drops hockey and goes to modeling." Megan teases. The group laughs.

"I'd pay to see that, right after Becca's play." Says Emma in between laughs.

**The bell rings and we all gather up our trays and start to scatter.**

"**See you tonight!" Emma says.**

**Tonight is out first book club meeting of seventh grade. It's supposed to be at the Wong's. It was supposed to be at our house, but my mother is swamped right now taping the first few episodes of her new TV show, **_**Cooking with Clementine**_**. Our house has been a complete wreck for weeks, with camera crews and all sorts of people from the Cooking Channel underfoot.**

**I had no idea a TV show took so much works.**

"Honestly neither did I but it was worth it." Clementine beams proudly. The group nods at her insight.

**But it does have its benefits. The food, mostly. I can hardly wait to get home from school every day to see what they've got whipping up in the kitchen.**

**Unfortunately, I don't feel that way about tonight. Mrs. Wong is a terrible cook.**

"I'm sorry Aunt Lilly, I didn't mean it like that's." Cassidy said. Mrs. Wong nodded and thanked Cassidy for her apology. "I know my food is not the best but I try." Lilly said.

"It's better than my cooking." Mrs. Hawthorne said.

"We know." Her family groans, having tasted before one of her nasty concoctions.

**She doesn't believe in sugar, for one thing, which I personally think should be one of the four major food groups.**

"Don't we all." Emma sighed dreamily.

**Snacks are in important part of book club. At least for me.**

**Megan and Jess and I all trade "Goodbyes" and "See you laters" and head off to our afternoon classes. I spend the rest of the day worrying about Stan the man—and about the horrible vegan zucchini cookies or brown rice muffins or some equally awful snacks that are probably being baked right now in the Wong's kitchen.**

"Ok noted, no more Vegan cookies for book club." Mrs. Wong says sadly.

"Nah, keep 'em, they've grown on me." Cassidy says smiling.

Not only does this make Mrs. Wong happy, this makes Clementine happy, knowing that her childish daughter is now somewhat mature.

**Plus, I have a knew thing to worry about too. Why did I ever tell Zach Norton that I might be interested in being a photographer for the school newspaper?**

"Because not only is it something your good at it's something you love doing." Mrs. Chadwick says. Cassidy nods that was her reason.

**I'm still regretting that particular slip-up several hours later when Mom and I head to Strawberry Hill and pull into the Wong's driveway.**

"**Wait, honey, take this in with you," says my mother as I start to climb out of the car. She reaches into the backseat and produces a plastic container. "Leftovers from today's taping," she says, winking at me. "Just in case."**

**I lift a corner of the lib and peek inside. Brownies! I inhale their deliciousness and smile, filled with a sudden rush of love for my mother.**

"So the only way I can get love from you is by food?" Clementine says in mock-hurt.

"The book doesn't lie." Replies Cassidy with a grin on her face.

**Her brownies are the best.**

"So I've heard." Says Clementine modestly

**They're so good, in fact, that I'm almost ready to forgive her for dating Stanley Kinkaid. Almost.**

"So if had given you two batches of my brownies you would have taken Stanley in with open arms?" Clementine asks with a "You've got to be kidding me" look on her face.

"Sounds like it." Cassidy shrugged.

Clementine rolls her eyes.

"**For heaven's sake, Cassidy, you'd think I never feed you!" my mother protests as I snatch one and cram it in my mouth. I give her a chocolate grin and she shakes her head and laughs. "Just try and leave a few for everyone else, okay?"**

**Inside, I deposit the container on the glass coffee table in the living room and head down the hall to Megan's room. Jess and Emma are already there, and the four of us hang out, talking, while our mothers get everything set up.**

"That's all we do around here, slave away." Mrs. Delaney says dramatically.

"It's tiring." Mrs. Wong says.

"Exhausting," Mrs. Hawthorne adds.

"Excruciating," Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid continues.

"Really girls, I think it's just plain boring." Mrs. Chadwick says, ending the famous Hawthorne synonym game.

By then the group is bursting with laughter, no one has ever been able to not laugh while this game went on.

**A few minutes later the intercom on the wall crackles. The Wong's house is so big they need an intercom system to talk to each other. Megan's dad invented some computer gadget, and they're really rich.**

"I don't want to say that's how it happened but it's pretty spot on." Jokes Mr. Wong.

"**Girls, we're about ready to start," Mrs. Wong announces. Megan presses the button under the speaker. "Okay."**

"**Race you," I call, charging out her door. You could practically run a marathon in the hallways in this place.**

"Not that I'd want to." Megan mumbles.

**Megan and Jess and Emma chase me back to the living room, and we burst in, breathless and giggling, to find our moms all discussing something in low voices. They look up, startled.**

"We didn't want you girls to know what we were planning." Said Mrs. Wong.

"I think it's a little too late for that, you guys acted real suspicious." Megan replied.

"**That eager to get started, are you?" says Mrs. Hawthorne, and she and the other moms all smiled.**

**Mrs. Delaney's smile looks a little strained, but maybe it's just my imagination.**

"Well times weren't the happiest that year so I think you might have been right Cassidy." Mrs. Delaney said before Cassidy could apologize. She gave Cassidy a warm smile before Courtney continued.

**Or maybe she's just tired. My mother says Mrs. Delaney deserves some kind of medal for raising twin boys.**

"Finally my work is appreciated." Mrs. Delaney joked, she loves her boys but god they can be such a hand full.

"That's not true," Michael said. "I have always appreciated your work." Mrs. Delaney just chuckled and she took his hand. While Courtney was reading she took time to appreciate her husband.

"**My goodness, Cassidy," says Mrs. Wong, whose T-shirt has a big picture of the planet earth on it with LOVE YOUR MOTHER underneath. "I swear you've grown another inch or two since I saw you last week!"**

"**A chip off the old block, eh, Clementine?" adds Mrs. Hawthorne. "Cassidy will be sashaying down the catwalk one of these days in your footsteps if she keeps this up."**

Cassidy scowls at the word model. Tristan notices this and whispers "I'd think you'd be a great model, you're already the star of my life." Cassidy's face turns as red as her hair, and when Cassidy hides her face Tristan smiles.

**My mother reaches out to give me an affectionate pat. I twist away and slump into a white armchair. I don't care if I get to be seven feet tall, no way am I ever going to be a model.**

**SIDE NOTE:**

**Ok sorry for stopping this long awaited update but I just want to brush on this topic for a moment. As you might all be aware there is this new fanfiction where Cassidy is sort of brought upon the world of modeling. If you don't know this, after you're done reading this I really think you should go check it out it's called "Walk the Runway" by sunflowerstar481, it's awesome. I know you guys wouldn't do this but before someone goes "Oh my god she totally got paid for this shoutout" but no this is not true, this is just a genuine review. Ok story time over, now let's get back to the story, I've procrastinated long enough.  
>…<strong>

"**So how's school?" asks Mrs. Delaney. I grunt in reply. My mother gives me her Queen Clementine look,**

Clementine as if on cue rolls her eyes at this, which only makes Cassidy's smile grow wider. If she gets annoyed hearing that remark now she's going to be pissed by the time this book ends, this makes Cassidy chuckle thinking about it. Clementine gives Cassidy her Queen Clementine look which makes Cassidy force down that laughter even though it's hard.

**The one that says she means business and I'd better shape up. I think of Stanley Kinkaid and start to scowl at her, and then I think of the brownies she saved for us tonight, and I sigh and sit up a little straighter. "Oh, you know, school is—school,"**

"And this folks is a trip through the mind of Cassidy Ann Sloane." Darcy says an announcer voice. Cassidy throws a pillow at him, which earns her a Queen Clementine glare.

**Mrs. Delaney laughs. "Things haven't changed much, I guess. I always felt the same way come September."**

**It's really nice to have Jess's mom here at book club with us. Last year she was away working in New York as an actress. She sent letters and presents and stuff sometimes, but it wasn't the same as her being in person.**

"Yeah it really wasn't, I felt like I was missing important mile stones for the twins and for Jess—," she smiles at Jess. "It felt weird."

Jess went up and sat down next to her mom and gave her a big hug. Courtney took the time as Jess went back to her original seat next to Darcy to continue reading.

**I can tell Jess is glad too. She's snuggled up next to her mom on the sofa, which is white just like my chair. Everything in the Wong's living room is white, or chrome, or glass. I call it the "winter room."**

"And an assortment of other things." Giggles Megan.

**Emma settles onto the floor below me—which is covered with a white rug, of course—and Megan perches on the arm of her mother's chair. Mrs. Wong gestures at the coffee table. On it are a vegetable tray—carrot sticks, red pepper strips, celery, that kind of stuff—along with a bowl of gross looking greenish dip, my mother's brownies, and a platter with a round, lumpy thing on it.**

"**Help yourselves, everyone," she says. "This is organic spinach dip, and that"—she points to the platter—"is a new recipe I've been wanting to try. I have to confess that you are my guinea pigs tonight. I thought it might work for your show, Clementine. It's a vegan cheesecake."**

**(Authors Note, again. It's currently 11:57 where I currently live and an hour ago just sent me an email stating someone has left a comment on my story. I was worried because I promised to upload on thanksgiving but didn't due to school work and procrastination. When I read the message I felt so bad I wanted to cry. The message itself wasn't anything hurtful or heartfelt all it said was "thought you were gonna update :'(." I know I've been really behind on my promises and some of you might be losing fate but I read every one of your comments and I care. Ever since I read that message I've written 5 pages and over 3,000 words, that's how motivated I am. I really want to send this unfinished because I want you to read something because you've been so patient but I don't want you to get some half-assed (excuse my cussing) work, you deserve better and I am motivated to finish this chapter. Thank you so much guest I am working hard for you, so you can get the story you deserve, and for all my other fans who deserve a story too.)**

…

**I glance over at Megan. It can't be easy, having a health nut like Mrs. Wong for your mother.**

Before Cassidy can apologize Megan interjects. "It never is but that makes her more special, I love you mom."

Mrs. Wong smiles at her daughter and excuses Cassidy of an apology.

**We all stare at the round, lumpy thing.**

"**Why, Lily, how interesting. Says my mother finally. "What sis you substitute for cream cheese?" Like her brownies, my mother's cheesecake is amazing. My mouth starts watering just thinking about it.**

"**Whipped tofu," Mrs. Wong replies. "You'll never notice the difference."**

**There's a brief silence as we eye her creation. Somehow I'm pretty sure we'll notice the difference.**

"Yeah it wasn't my best meal; even _I_ had trouble keeping it down." Say Mrs. Wong shivering at what she had created.

**My mother takes a notebook out of her purse and jots something down. "I'll talk to Fred," she tells Mrs. Wong brightly. Fred is Fred Goldberg, the producer of **_**Cooking with Clementine**_**. "Maybe we can squeeze in a vegan episode."**

**Mrs. Wong smiles happily.**

Mrs. Wong and Mrs. Sloane-Kinkaid smiled at each other. It took a while but they did end up putting a vegan episode on_Cooking with Clementine_ and it had just aired the week before. It was one of their most highly praised shows to their surprise. And who knows, it might become a monthly thing.

**Mrs. Hawthorne clears her throat. "So, tonight is our official kick-off meeting for the Mother Daughter Book Club, year two," she announces. "And girls, we have a surprise for you. We got to talking after yoga class the other day—"**

**Emma groans—she says something bad always comes from yoga class, which must be true because it was right after yoga class that my mother met Stanley Kinkaid—**

Before Cassidy can apologize, Stanley just brushes it off and tells her it's nothing. It might have hurt a little but Cassidy was hurting so it's fine.

**But her mother just ignores this and continues. "And although we realize we probably should have discussed this with you all first, we thought it might be a good idea to broaden the scope of our group, as it were. Build a few bridges."**

"I know where this is headed," Groaned Becca. "I'm sorry if I acted like a brat, I was different back then." The girls let Becca know that she is forgiven and Courtney continues.

**I poke Emma with my toe. She shrugs. Neither of us has a clue what her mother is talking about. By the looks on their faces, Megan and Jess don't either.**

**There's a knock at the front door.**

"**Ah," says Mrs. Hawthorne. "Right on time."**

"Here it comes." Sighs Becca.

"**Girls, we're expecting you to be gracious," warns my mother.**

**Mrs. Wong nods in agreement as she gets up to answer the door. There's a brief murmur of voices in the front hall, and then Mrs. Chadwick and Becca walk in.**

"I'd like to apologize for any snobby behavior I displayed here, I honestly do regret it." Mrs. Chadwick says looking down at the carpet. Like to what the girls did to Becca the mom's and dad's forgave Mrs. Chadwick.

**The room goes dead quiet. Emma looks stunned. I shoot my mother a desperate glance, and she gives me the Queen Clementine **_**don't you dare**_** narrowed eyes in response. Megan has a funny look on her face, and I can't tell if she's sad or glad to see Becca. Becca, on the other hand, looks as unhappy to us are to see her. Mrs. Chadwick looks like she single-handedly won the Stanley Cup.**

"**Girls, please extend a warm welcome to the newest members of our book club," says Mrs. Hawthorne in her best official librarian voice.**

Mrs. Hawthorne rolls her eyes at this, like Clementine, Lily, and Mrs. Chadwick, Mrs. Hawthorne has a thing all the girls mention about her, that her librarian voice. Though Mrs. Hawthorne always insists she doesn't have one, the rest of the group begs to differ.

"**Calliope recently started taking yoga, and after class one day—" Emma groans softly under her breath and her mother raises an eyebrow in warning, then continues "—she asked if she and Becca might join us this year. Now that you girls are all in seventh grade, we know you'll want to extend your circle of friendship."**

**Expand our circle of friendship? Is Mrs. Hawthorne completely **_**nu-ts**_**? **

"Yes but we still love her." Jokes Mrs. Delaney, Mrs. Hawthorne rolls her eyes.

**I glare at my mother. I can't believe she and the other mothers would do something like this behind our backs! Don't they now how we feel about the Fab Three? And especially about Becca Chadwick?**

**Mrs. Wong pats the far end of the sofa. "Calliope, why don't you sit here. And Becca, you can have that armchair beside her."**

**The Chadwick's sit down and we all stare stiffly at one another for a moment.**

"**I made vegan cheesecake," Mrs. Wong announces, like that's going to break the ice. She cuts a piece and put it on a plate and hands it to Mrs. Chadwick.**

**Mrs. Chadwick looks like she's just been given a plate of dead possum. Her lips purse tightly, but she manages to squeeze out a thank you. Apparently she's on her best behavior too. Megan's dad call's Mrs. Chadwick "the snapping turtle" and Mr. Delaney calls her "the old battle axe." **

Mrs. Chadwick winces at those two names but as Mr. Wong and Mr. Delaney rush to go apologize, she brushes them off. She's something about it being all in the past and then adds some quote which Mr. Hawthorne scribbles down in his notebook.

**She's famous around Concord for her sharp temper and critical eye. I watch her closely, trying not to smile. No way is Mrs. Chadwick going to be able to hold her tongue once she takes a bite of that cheesecake.**

**She forks up a little nibble and wedges it in her mouth. "Yum," she croaks.**

**Mrs. Wong looks pleases. "It's made with tofu."**

**I can't resist. "Free-range tofu?"**

**My mother looks over at me sharply. Mrs. Wong takes the bait. "Now Cassidy, tofu isn't an animal," she chides. "It's a soy bean curd. Soy bean curd doesn't need to roam free."**

**On the floor below me, Emma lets out a little snort. I nudge her with my foot. We're both grinning at the thought of a corral of tofu wandering around. "**_**Home, home on the range,"**_** I sing to her under my breath. **_**"Where the deer and the tofu roam free…"**_

**Mrs. Wong doesn't hear me, fortunately. She's too busy explaining the recipe to Mrs. Chadwick. "And the other ingredients are organic, of course."**

"**Of course," echoes Mrs. Chadwick politely.**

"**Tonight is our first official meeting of the year," says Mrs. Hawthorne, steering the conversation away from Mrs. Wong's pet subject. "We should start by deciding which book we want to read first."**

"**How about **_**The Diary of Anne Frank**_**?" says Emma.**

**Her mother shakes her head. "You'll be reading that in English this year."**

"_**To Kill a Mockingbird**_**?" suggests my mother.**

"**Eighth grade reading list," says Mrs. Hawthorne. "I checked with the school librarian."**

"**I know—**_**Gone with the Wind,"**_** says Mrs. Delaney. "That would be a fun one to read together."**

**Mrs. Chadwick's mouth goes all pruney again. "Inappropriate material for my Becca."  
>Her Becca squirms at this.<strong>

The group gets a kick out of this line.

**Mrs. Wong holds up a couple of books. "Those are two of my all-time favorites," she says. I squint at the titles: **_**A Little Princess **_**and **_**The Secret Garden. **_

"**Oh, mine too!" says my mother. "I loved those books when I was a girl."**

"**My daughter is far too advanced for Frances Hodgson Burnett," Mrs. Chadwick decrees. "I was under the impression that your club's selections would be challenging the girls."**

**There's an uncomfortable pause, then Emma says, "Actually, I agree with Mrs. Chadwick. I love those books, but I've read them back in fifth grade. We're seventh graders. Can't we read something more grown up?"**

**Jess and Megan booth nod.**

The group is too immersed with the story to talk about anything, this shocked Mr. Chadwick who was silently observing the whole thing.

"**But not too grown-up," warns Mrs. Chadwick, and Becca squirms again.**

"**That's kind of a tall order," says Mrs. Hawthorne, chewing her lip. She looks around the room at us. "Hmm. Perhaps it's time for Jane Austen." Mrs. Hawthorne is a huge Jane Austen fan. Emma and her brother Darcy are even named after characters in Jane Austen books.**

"There's a funny story behind that, before Emma was born, Phoebe was originally going to name her Elizabeth. I refused pointing out that Elizabeth and Darcy were the main love interests and I didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. So in the end, after a long debate, Phoebe gave up and chose the name Emma." Mr. Hawthorne said.

The group laughed at the idea of calling Emma, Elizabeth. It was weird.

"**Shall we try and tackle **_**Pride and Prejudice**_**?"**

**My mother shakes her head. "Probably still a bit beyond Cassidy, I'm afraid. Maybe another year."**

**Now it's my turn to squirm. Sometimes my mother still treats me like a baby. "How do you know it's beyond me?" I grumble.**

**My mother pats my knee. "Trust me, sweetheart, I know."**

**I yank my leg away.**

"**How about a different Jane, then" suggests Mrs. Delaney. "How about **_**Jane Eyre**_**?"**

"**Shannon, really! That's much too advanced for these girls!" huffs Mrs. Chadwick.**

"**I've already read it," say Emma smugly.**

"We get it Emma you've already read everything, no need to rub it in." Jokes Cassidy. Emma sticks out her tongue at Cassidy but smiles proudly, she loves that title.

**Mrs. Chadwick turns to Mrs. Hawthorne. "Phoebe, when we discussed this you promised me you'd be making appropriate choices for the girls."**

**Emma's mom looked like she swallowed a tack. I think Mrs. Chadwick was starting to get on her nerves.**

"**Perhaps we should save the Jane's for another year," says my mother. "I have an idea that might meet with everyone's approval. How about **_**Anne of Green Gables**_**?"**

**All our mothers sigh happily. Even Mrs. Chadwick's lips unpurse a little.**

"**Perfect!" says Mrs. Wong.**

"**Absolutely," agrees Mrs. Delaney.**

"**Now that's a splendid idea," says Mrs. Hawthorne.**

"**But I've already read it!" Emma protests.**

"What did I say?" Cassidy laughs. Emma throws a pillow at her to get her to shut up.

"**You've already read everything," Jess tells her.**

"See Jess agrees with me." Cassidy says.

"We all do." Becca snorts.

"**Not everyone in our group has read as widely as you have, sweetie," Mrs. Hawthorne says to Emma. "Maybe you can give the others a chance to catch up. And somehow I don't think you'd mind spending more time with Anne Shirley."**

"**I guess not," Emma concedes.**

**Mrs. Wong has a dreamy expression on her face. "**_**Anne of Green Gables**_** was another of my favorite books when I was growing up," she says. "I used to call Jerry 'Gilbert' when we were first dating."**

"He almost broke up with me too; he thought I was cheating on him. I soon had to explain that it was a reference to a book and he understood." Mrs. Wong says laughing.

Mr. Wong smiles sheepishly. "I was really concerned."

The group laughs.

**The mothers all laugh.**

"**Who's Gilbert?" I ask.**

"**You'll find out," says my mother, as Mrs. Wong disappears down the house down the hall to the library—this house has its own **_**library,**_** believe it or not**

"That was my exact reaction." Emma admitted.

"I'm so surprised." Jess replies sarcastically.

**-to dig up her old copy of the book.**

"**It's settled, then," says Mrs. Hawthorne. "**_**Anne of Green Gables **_**it is. And if we decide we like Lucy Maud Montgomery, we can read more in the series. Anne of Avonlea comes next and then Anne of the Island—I can't remember all the other titles, but I think there are a total of eight."**

**Mrs. Wong returns and passes her well-worn copy of the book around our circle. When it gets to me, I inspect it, wrinkling my nose. It must be a hundred years old. The cover is practically falling off and the pages are all dog-eared and faded.**

"**Another musty, dusty old book," I mutter to Emma.**

"**Another well-loved book," corrects my mother.**

**Mrs. Hawthorne looks over at me and smiles. "I seem to recall that you liked the last 'musty, dusty old book' we read Cassidy."**

**I shrug. She's right, though. I never thought I'd like **_**Little Woman**_**, but it turned to be an awesome story. Maybe **_**Anne of Green Gables**_** won't be so bad. "I guess," I admit grudgingly. "But couldn't we read some sports biographies one of these days?"**

"**I'll make note of it," says Mrs. Hawthorne, grabbing her pen. "Even if we don't end up reading one of them for book club, I'll scout the library and see what we have that might interest you, okay?"**

**I really like Emma's mother.**

Emma's mom smiles at Cassidy.

**Mrs. Wong offers to go to the bookstore and round up copies of **_**Anne of Green Gables**_** for all of us. Then she points to the snack. "Dig in!"**

"**Before we all enjoy these wonderful, uh, healthy treats, perhaps you'd like to watch this," says my mother, pulling a DVD out of her purse.**

"**Is it the **_**Anne of Green Gables**_** movie?" Emma asks, bouncing up and down with excitement. "I love that movie!"**

**Becca rolls her eyes.**

"**No, honey, it's not **_**Anne of Green Gables**_**," my mother tells Emma. "Nothing that thrilling. It's just the first episode of m new TV show."**

**Everybody squeals—everyone except Becca, of course. And me. I've seen it already. It's ok, but now I'm really wishing I never agreed to be in it. I look like a dork. Especially since I let my mother and Courtney talk me into wearing a dress.**

"You looked fine." Clementine reassures her daughter. Cassidy shrugs.

**My mother hand the DVD to Megan, who picks up the remote from the coffee table and pushes a button. A huge oil painting—of white flowers, naturally—over the fireplace suddenly slides into the wall, revealing a window screen TV.**

**Mrs. Chadwick's mouth drops open, which makes her look like a tuna, or maybe an orca whale.**

"Hey, it was new to me." Defends Mrs. Chadwick, fighting a smile but can't keep it from showing.

**Mrs. Chadwick is pretty hefty. She'd make a good linebacker.**

"I'll stick to landscape designing." Mrs. Chadwick laughed.

**I'm guessing Mrs. Chadwick hasn't seen the Wong's entertainment system setup before. It's impressive, there no doubt about it. She watches, fascinated, as Megan pops in the DVD and pushes another button. The theme music to my mother's show swells, filling the room. Mr. Wong installed state-of-the-art speakers, of course, and even I have to admit the tune is pretty catchy in surround sound.**

**The title sequence appears, and the camera zooms in on my mother, who is standing at the front door of our house waving to the viewers. Emma and Jess wave back, giggling.**

**Becca pulls out her cell phone and starts texting like mad. Probably reporting in to Ashley and Jen, her to wanna-bees.**

"She was right." Becca sighed.

**I feel like reaching over and snatching the stupid thing away from her, but my mother gives me another of her Queen Clementine looks, so I just make a face at Becca instead.**

**After the **_**Cooking with Clementine **_**logo fades, the camera swoops up and pans Concord from the air. The moms all **_**ooh**_** and **_**aah,**_** and even I have to admit our town looks good, what with all the white steeples and cool old houses and trees and rivers and ponds. The actual episode starts and suddenly we're at Half Moon Farm, where Mom is picking fall raspberries and talking with Mr. and Mrs. Delaney.**

"**Oh, look, there are the twins!" cries Mrs. Wong. "Don't they look adorable!"**

**Adorable is not exactly I'd use to describe Dylan and Ryan.**

"Me either." Mumbles Jess.

**Seek and Destroy is more like it.**

"Sounds about right." Says Mrs. Delaney, the group nods.

**The boys make faces at the camera, the run off through the berry patch laughing like maniacs while their parents and my mother continue to pick berries.**

**After their baskets are full, my mother looks at the camera and says, "Let's go back to my house and make raspberry jam!"**

**Becca gives me a pitying look. I glare back—sure it's corny, but who is she to criticize? She makes a big show of taking her phone out of her purse and texting again. I grab a carrot stick and lob it at her. It lands in her lap and she looks up, startled. I stare innocently at the TV.**

The group burst outs laughing. Once they finally calm down, Courtney continued.

**My mother looks really pretty on-screen. **

"Awe thanks Cassidy." Clementine says.

**Watching her, I can't help but think of Stanley Kinkaid. I can understand why he'd want my mother for his girlfriend. What I can't understand is why she'd be interested in him.**

"CASSIDY ANN!" Clementine yelled. She knows Cassidy was still getting used to the idea but that was not necessary.

"I'm really sorry Stanley." Cassidy said, but she really meant it, she instantly regretted the words as soon as her past self, thought them.

"It was in the past, its ok." Stanley says. Cassidy nods but she still feels guilty.

**The camera follows the Delaney's truck past some of Concords famous sites. The producers faked a route from Half MOON Farm to our house for this episode to show off more of the town. Emma squeals again when the truck passes her house.**

**Becca sends another text message.**

**The camera continues on it's crazy path, past the Old North Bridge, through Monument Square, then on to Orchard House where the Alcott family lived and finally to Walden Pond.. Eventually it winds up on the doorstep of our old Victorian on Hubbard Street. Inside, my mother leads the way to the kitchen, where she walks viewers through the jam making process.**

**Looking like a slightly shorter version of my mother, Courtney appears at this point to assist her**

"Yay, I've been mentioned for something other than the power of holding a grudge." Courtney celebrates. Cassidy just rolls her eyes.

**And when they're finished I show up to help test the finished product.**

"**Woo-hoo!" calls Megan, and I wad up my napkin and throw it at her. On screen, I'm wearing this ridiculous sundress my mother bought me and the stylists from the Cooking Channel poufed up my hair and even put makeup on me.**

"**Cassidy, you look beautiful!" says Mrs. Delaney.**

**I cringe. "I look like an idiot."**

"**Big time," whispers Becca.**

"**Shut up," I whisper back.**

"**That was absolutely delightful, Clementine," says Mrs. Hawthorne, as the credits roll. "I predict it will be a big hit."**

"**Hmmph," says Mrs. Chadwick sourly. "It's all well and good, I'm sure, but it'll only bring more tourists to Concord. As if it wasn't crowed enough already. You can hardly find a parking spot downtown anymore."**

"**Now, Calliope, we have a beautiful, historic town," says Mrs. Wong. "Naturally people are going to want to visit."**

"**I have some good news," says my mother. "I've been going over the line-up of potential episodes with Fred Goldberg, and he and the other producers are very eager to schedule that mother- daughter tea we talked about earlier this summer."**

"**Do we get to be in it?" asks Becca, shoving her cellphone back in her pocket and sitting up straight. It's the first time she's shown any interest all evening.**

"**You bet," says my mother cheerfully.**

**My mother is such a traitor.**

"**I'll get more details to you all soon," she continues, "but it looks like we'll be filming in a few weeks."**

**Great. Just what I've always wanted, to be stuffed back into a dress and stuck in front of a camera with Becca Chadwick. My teammates will never let me live this down.**

"**Becca and I should be going," says Mrs. Chadwick, glancing at her watch. "It is a school night, after all."**

"**But you haven't finished your cheesecake," Mrs. Wong replies disappointed.**

"**I need to go home soon too," says my mother. "Phoebe, can you drive Cassidy home?"**

**I look over at her in surprise.**

"**Let me guess—prep work for tomorrow's show?" asks Mrs. Hawthorne.**

**My mother blushes slightly. "Um, no. Actually I, uh, have a date."**

**Becca's mom frowns she opens her mouth to say something disapproving, but before she can, Mrs. Delaney leans over and pops a brownie into it.**

"Well that was unexpected." Darcy said, choking back laughter.

"It was the only way." Joked Mrs. Delaney.

"**You really must try one of Clementine's brownies," she says sweetly. "They'll be feature on the show next week."**

"Sorry Calliope but Clementine needed me." Mrs. Delaney said.

The group laughed.

"**Mmmph mmph," says Mrs. Chadwick.**

**I put my plate down. First Becca, and now this. What a way to spoil a perfectly good evening! I wish my mother could see that out family is fine the way it is. We don't need anybody—especially not Stanley Kinkaid—butting in where they don't belong.**

**She just doesn't get it.**

**Final score: Clementine—1. Cassidy—0.**

"That's it." Courtney said, closing the book. The group nodded and Mrs. Wong said "That was quite a chapter, who's next?"

"That would be Emma darling." Courtney said, Emma groaned.

"So I guess we will read at my house." Mr. Hawthorne said, everyone nodded. "Well, I'll see you in a few days."

And with that everyone said goodbye and parted. Little do they know what's store for them next.

**Authors Note**

**I DID IT WOO-HOO! It's 3:55am and I got to go to school at 7:30, ugh. I get to sleep soon so yay again. I'm so tired and I don't have time to edit this so if I have a few errors this is why. Anyway guys I look forward to reading your comments **

**Leader of the rebellion (not even close)**

**~Rebel Belle**


	7. Author's Note

**Author's note**

**Hey guys, happy holidays! Before I get down to writing the fanfiction I just want to say how happy I am that you guys like this story and I just want to reassure you guys that I am not planning on stopping this story anytime soon. No matter how lazy I get or how much work I have the last thing on my mind is to stop writing this story. I just wanted to tell you this before I begin to write my story (this will go up first, sorry if you thought this was an update but I just wanted to let you know because you guys are fab****). Okay I'm going to start writing once this authors note is up. Hope you guys have a happy holiday!**

**Your friend,**

**~Rebel Belle**


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